
Pass DAs-g 



Book Jl 



/^i3 



.THE 



LETTERS OF JUJ 



'' STAT NOMINIS umbra/' 



M I 



J NEW-YORK: 

i 

'CBLISHED BY D. HUNTING T<n!.;, 

No. 21 Nassau-street. 

!813. ^ 



-i^ft 



so 



t,. S. VA-N WINKLE, PKINTER» 

flValer-sireet^ New- York. 






, "* 

', *^ 

rj CONTENTS. 

"tXEOicATioN to the English Nation * 

Preface, - . . . 1 

1. funius to the Printer of the Public Advertiser, . 1? 

2. ir W. Draper's Answer to the former Letter of Ju- 

nius addressed to the Printer, ,..'.. 25 

unius to Sir William Draper, 2^ 

Mr William Draper to Junius, 33 

1 Sir William Draper, 37 

I Junius, from Sir William Draper, S9 

o Sir William Draper, 40 

o his Grace the Duke of Grafton, 42 

his Grace the Duke of Grafton, 46 

> Mr. Edward Weston - . 49 

o bis Grace the Duke of Grafton, 5f> 

o his Grace the Duke of Grafton, 64 

nilo Junius to the Printer of the Public Advertiser, 60 
hilo Junius to the Printer of the Public Advertiser, 62 

) his Grace the Duke of Grafton, 65 

IG. 3 the Printer of the Public Advertiser, ... 70 
17. Ihilo Junius to the Printer of the Public Advertiser, 75 
1». To Sir William Blackstone, Solicitor General to her 

Majesty, 71 

19. Philo Junius to the Printer of the Public Advertiser, 82 

20. Junius to the Printer of the Public Advertiser, . 88 

21. To the Priuterof the Public Advertiser, ... 95 

22. Philo Junius to the Printer of the Public Advertiser, 9S 

23. Juuius to the Duke of Bedford, 99 

'M. Sir William Draper to Junius, . 107 

25. Junius to Sir William Draper, ....... 109 

26. Sir William Draperto Junius, IH 

27. Junius to the Printer of the Public Advertiser. . 115 

28. To the Priuter of the Public Advertiser, . . . ]]8 

29. Philo Junius to the Printer of the Public Advertiser, 119 

30. J unius to the Printer of the Public Advertiser, . ]23 
yl. Philo Junius to the Printer of the Public Advertiser, 128 
33. Junius to the Printer of the Public Advertiser, . 131 
a3. To his Grace the Duke of Grafton, . . . . 133 

a^l. To his Grace the Uuke of Grafton, . ... 133 

3.'». To the Printer ofthe Public Advertiser, . . , 137 

3C. To the Dule u( Grafton, ......... ]5l 

-07. To the Printer of the Public Advertiser, ... 158 

3«. To the Printer of the Public Advertiser, . . . ]e2 

;>3 To the Printer of the Public Advertiser, . . . 168 



iv eOliTENTS. 

40. To Lord North, . . . • 

4k To the Right Hon. Lord Mansfield, 

42. To the Printer of the Public Advertiser, . . . 

43. Philo Junius to the Printer of the Puhlic Advertise 

44. Junius to the Printer of the Public Advertiser, . 

45. Philo Junius to the Printer of the Public Advertise: 

46. Philo Junius to the Printer of the Public Advertisei 

47. Philo Junius to the Printer of the Public Advertisei 

48. Philo Junius to the Printer of the Public Advertise 

49. Junius to the- Duke of Grafton 

60. To his Grace the Duke of Grafton, 

.51. From the Rev. Mr. Home to Junius, . . . . 

.'>2. Junius to the Rev. Mr. Home, 

.^3. From the Rev. Mr. Home to Junius 

54. Junius to the printer of the Public Advertiser, . 

55. Philo Junius to the Printer of the Public Advertise 

56. The Rev. Mr. Home to Junius, 

67. Junius to his Grace the Duke of Grafton, . . . 

53, Addressed to the Livery of London, 

69. To the Printer of the Public Advertiser, . . . 

60. Philo J unius to t he Printer of the Public Advertisei 

61. Philo Junius to Zeno, . . : 

62. Philo Junius to an Advocate in the cause of th 

people, 

S3. Observations by a Friend of Junius in answer to 
Barrister at Law, , • • 

64. Declaration in behalf of Jimius 

65. Junius to Lord Chief Justice Mansfield, . . . 

66. Junius engages to make good bis charge against 

Lord Mansfield, 

67. Junius to the Duke of Grafton 

68. To Lord Chief Justice Mansfield, 

69. To the Right Hon. Lord Camden, . . . . 



DEDICATION 

TO THE 

ENGLISH NATION. 



OEDiCATE to you a collection of letters, xrritten by 
f yourselves, for the common benefit of us all. They 
1 never have grown to this size, without 5"our contin- 
incouragenient and applause. To me they originally 
nothing but a healthy sanguine constitution. Under 
care they have thriven. To you they are indebted 
hatever strength or beauty they possess. When kings 
ninisters are forgotten, when the force and direction 
rsonal satire is no longer understood, and when mea- 
are only felt in their remotest consequences, this 
will, I believe, be found to contain ptinciples wor- 
> be transmitted to posterity. When you leave the un- 
red hereditary freehold to your children, you do but 
our duty. Both liberty and property are precarious, 
3 the po<:<essors have sense and spirit enough to de- 
.hem. Tiiis is not the languajre of vanity. If I am 
mman, my gratification lies within a narrow circle. I 
"e sole depository of my own secret, and it shall pe- 
lt h me. 

a honest, and, I may truly affirm, a laborious zeal 
- pulilic service, has given me any "weiglit in your 
1. let me exhort and conjure you, never to suffer 
i^ion of your political constitution, however minute 
umce may appear, to pass by. without a determined, 
>ering resistance. One precedent creates another, 
soon accumulate, and constitute law. What yester- 
<■; fact, to day is doi-trine. Examples are supposed 
ii'v the must dangerous measures; and, where they 
suit exa.Ttly, the defect is supplied by analogy. Be 
d, that the laws which protect us in our civil rights, 
•ut of the, constitution, and they must fall or flourish 
This is not the cause of faction, or of party, or 
individual, hut the common interest of every "ma« 
ain. Alth«u2.hthe king should continue to support hi« 
t system of government, the period is not very dis- 
it which you will have the means of retiress in your 
iwer. It may he nearer, perhaps, than any of us ex- 
and I would "^arn you to be prepared for it. The 
ay possible be advised to dissolve the present par- 
t a year or two before it expires of course, andpre- 
e a new election, in hopes of taking the nation by sur- 
If such a measure be in agitation, this very cau- 
ay defeat or prevent it. 

uiot doubt that yo« will unanimously assert the free- 
f electiOQ, aud vindicate your exclusive right to 



o BEDICATION. 

clioose 5'our representatives. But other questions .have 
been started, on which your determination should he equal- 
ly clear and unanimous. Let it be impressed upon your 
minds, hit it he instilled into your children, that the liber- 
ty of the press is the palladimn of all the civil, political, 
and religious rights of an Englishman : and that the ri^ht 
of juries to return a general verdict, in all cases whatso- 
Bver, is an essential part oyjur constitution, not to be 
controlled or limited by the judges, nor, in any shape, 
questionable by the legislature. The power of king, lords, 
and commons, is not an arbitrary po\Yer.* They are the 
trustees, not the owners, of the estate. The fee-siraple is 
in us. They cannot alienate, they cannot waste. When 
ve say that the legislature is supreme, we mean, that it is 
th'e highest power known to the constitution ; that it is the 
highest in corajiarifon with the other suh'ordinate powers 
established by the laws. In this sense, the word svprcme 
is relative, nbt absolute. The power of the legislature is 
limited, not only by the general rules of natural justice, 
and the welfare of the community, but by the forms and 
principles of our particular constitution. If this doctrine 
i)e not true, we must admit, that king, lords, and commons, 
have no rule to direct their resolutions, but merely their 
own will and pleasure. Theymiaht unite the legislative 
and executive power in the same hands, and dissolve the 
constitution by an act of parliament. But I am persuaded 
you will not leave it to the choice of seven hundred per- 
sons, notoriously corrupted by the crown, whether seven 
millions of their equals shall be freemen or slaves? The 
certamly of forfeiting their own rights, when they sacri- 
fice those of the nation, is no check to a brutal, dege- 
nerate mind. Without insisting upon the extravagant con- 
cession made to Harry the Eighth, there are instances, in 

* This positive denial of an arbitrary power being vested ; 
in the legislature, is not, in fact, a new doctrine. When the ^ 
tarl q/'Lindsey, in Ike year 1675, brousht a bill into the house ^ 
nf lords. To prevent the dangers which might arise from 
persons disatlectedto government, by nhich an oathand pe- 
nalty was to be iviposed upon the members of' both hoiises, it 
was ajfirmed in a protest, signed byiwenty-Viree 'ay peers, (my i 
lords the Ushops mere not accustomed io protest,) " That the i 
qniviltgf of sitting and voting in parliament, was an honouA 
tJiey had by birth, and aright so inherent in them, and insi pa- 
rable frorn them, that nothing could take it away, but what 
by the law of the land must withal take away their lives, and 
corrupt their blood.^^ These noble peers (whose names are a 
reproach to their posterity) have, in this instance, solemnly de- 
nied the power of parliament to alter tht constitution. Under 
H particular proposition, they have asserted a geji.tral trythy 
in nMch ivery man in JUngland is ConcwteU* 



BEDICATIOK 7 

II tory of other countries, of a formal, deliberate sur- 
er of the public liberty into the handb of the sovereign. 
ngland does not share the same fate, it is because 
■•>. lave better resources than in the virtue of either house 
:■! • arliaracnt. 

;ai(l that the liberty of the press is the valladiurn oT^M 

lights, and that the right of the juries to return a ?e- 

I vcrdjct IS part of your constitution. To preserve 

Avlioie system, you must correct your legislature 

I res-ard to any influence of the constituent over the 

act of the representative, there is little diiierence 

een a seat m parliament for seven years, and a seat 

'' ' t\ ^ . P'"°^Pect of your resentment is too rei»te • 

'I' ilthough the last session of a septennial parliamlw be 

ly employed in courting the favour of the people 

'^ ..rLl^ ' at this rate, your representatives have six 

e rlor offence, and hut one for atoflftnent. A death-bed 

•itance seldom reaches to restitution. If you reflect 

in the changes of administration, -which have marked 

laced the present rei^n, although your warmest 

,' Jiave, in their turn, been invested with the law- 

umawful authority of the crown; andthough other 

T improvements have been held forth to the oeo- 

. that no one man in office has ever promoted or 

. V IhL ^^' ^"^ ^'^^^.t*?""'? the duration of parliament ; 

4r sfm-P Vhf °"f "^'1 the opposition to this mea^ 

>er since the septennial act passed, has been con- 

, "inlirf" «« ,^he part of government. You can! 

K conclude, without the possibility of a doubt that 

. rn'"'Th-' t.^?/''^'^"^d^tion of tL undueTnauence 

•ronn. Ihis intluence answers every purnose of 

■y power to the crown, with an ex^ense^aEd oppJes 

e people, whkh would be unnecessary in aSar- 

ernment. The best of our ministersfind it the 

:1 most compendious mode of conductin " thl 

uLiT'^l'- ^^^^ '^"^^^y ^viU soon be in you? 

■ en th/o "' i'^^'' >'"" ^''a" "''ten be reminded of it 

en the opportunity presents itself, you n^ect to dn 

• oXtryTStr^ toposteriy,to"lS:an3?S 
. !*h/k' ^ ^"'ii' iiave one conso at on left in com 

JUNIUS, 



PREFACE. 



Thf, enconragement given to a multitisde of spi 
mangled publications of the Letters of J univs, per 
me, that a complete eciidon, corrected and impioi 
the author, will be favourably received. The print 
ieadiiy acquit me of any view to my own profit. 1 
take this troublesome task merely to serve a man v 
deserved well of me, and of the public; and who, > 
account, has been exposed to an expensive, tyr; 
proijijcution. For these reasons, I give to Mr. 
Sampinn fVoodfall, and to him alone, my right, intere 
pro;>ei'ty, in these letters, as fully arid completely 
intents and purposes^as an author can possibly com 
property in his own works to another. 

This edition contains all the letters of Jtuiius, Ph 
niiis, and of Sir fVilliavi Draper and Mr. Home to . 
with their re.'pective dates, and according to the o 
which they appeared inthe Public Advertiser. Tl 
ii iary part of /"/i i/o Jim/jawas indispensably necesi 
defend or explain particular pass&ges in Junius, in ' 
to plausilile ol.je<tions ; but the subordinate charv 
never (ruilty of" the indecorum of praising his pr 
The fraud was innocent, and I always intended to e.x] 
The notes will lie found not only useful, but ne'' 
References to facts not generally known, orallusion 
current report or opinion of the day, areinalitt 
unin'.ellipiiile. Yet the reader will not find himse 
loai.ed with explanations. I was not born to be a c( 
tator, oven upon my own works, 
it remains to say a few words upon the liberty 
ress. Thectarin'T spirit by which these letters a 
> sed to lie distinguished, seems to require that soi 
erii'us slifiuld be said in their defence. I am nokn 
prolession, nor do I preitnri to be more deeply re 
every English gentleman should be in the laws of hi 
try. If, there'ore, the principles I maintain an 
ronstitutirnal, IshallifHt think myself answered, ■ 
J should be convicted of a mistake in terms, oro( 
Tilving the Jiin<rua!ieoL the law. I speak to the plaii ■ 
Etanciiugof the people, and appeal to their honest, 
construction of me. 

Good men. to whom alone I address myself, aj 
me to consult their piety as little as their judgm 
e^iperieniji, when they admit the great and essen 
vantaae-.accruin? to society from the freedom of th 
yet indulge themselves in peevish or passionate 
oat ions against the abuses of it- Betraying an 
sonable expectation of benefits pure and entire fr 
humaa institution, they, in effect, arraigo the goo 



PREFACE. 9 

-oridence, and confess that they are dissatisfied with the 
jQimon lot of humanity. In the present instance, they 
•ally create to their own minds, or greatly exaggerate, 
le evil they coraplajji of. The laws of England provide as 
Tectually as any human laws can do for the protection of 
16 subject, in his reputation, as well as in his person and. 
roperty. If the characters of private men are insulted 
' injured, a dou'jle reincly is open to them by action and 
dlctment. If, through indolence, false shame, or indif- 
rence, they will not appeal to the laws of their country, 
ley fail in their duty to society, and are unjust to them- 
?Ives. If, from an unwarrantal;'le distrust of the intejirity 

■ juries, they would wish to obtain justice by any mode of 
foceeding more summary than a lri?il I'y their peers, I 
) not scruple to affirm, that they are, in eflect, greater 
lemies to themselves than to the libeller they prosecute. 

With regard to strictures upon the characters of men in 
Rce, and the measures of government, the case is a little 
iferent. A considerable latitude must be allowed in the 
scussion of public aiiairs, or the liberty of the press will 
5 of no benefit to society. As the indulgence of private 
alice and personal slander should be checked an.! resisted 
i' every legal means, so a constant examination into the 
laracters and conduct of ministers and magistrates should 
J equally promoted and encouraged. They who conceive 
at our newspapers are no restraint upon bad men, or ira- 
idiment to the execution of bad measures, know nothing 
this country. In that stale of abandoned servility and 
•■jtitution, tov,hich the undue influence of the crown hae 
duced the other branches of the legislature, our minis- 

•j re and magistrates have, in reality, little punishment to 
ir, and few ditKculties to contend with, beyond the cen- 

. re of the press, and the spirit of resistance which it ex- 
ecs among the people. While this censorial power it 

r lintained, to speak in the words of a most ingenious fo- 
igner, both minister and magistrate are compelled in 

. nost every instance, to ckoose hehveen his didg andkis re- 
tation. A dilemma of this kind perpetually before him, 
11 not, indeed, work miracles on his heart, but it will 
iuredly operate, in some degree, upon his conduct. At 
events, these are not times to admit of any relaxation in 
3 little discipline we have left. 

But it is alleged, that the licentiousness of the press is 
rried beyond all bounds of decency and truth; that our 
cellent ministers are continually exposed to the public 
;red or derisioa; that in prosecutions for libels on gc- 
rnment, juries are partial to the popular side; and that, 
the most flagrant cases, a verdict cannot be obtained for 
} king. If the premises were admitted, I should deny 
! conclusion. It is not true that the temiierof the times 

■ in general an undue influence over the conduct of juries. 
tii« coati-ary, BJany signal iaslaaces may be produced of 



40 PREFACE. 

verdicts returned for the king, wlien the inclinations o 
people led strongly to an undistinguished opposition . 
vernment. Witness the cases of Mr. Wilkes and Mr. At 
In the late prosecutions of the printers of my address 
great personage, the juries were never fairly dealt ■». 
-Lord Chief Justice Mansfield, conscious that the pap 
question contained no treasonable or lihellous matter 
that the severest parts of it, however painful to tlie kir, • 
offensive to hisservants, were strictly true, would fain 
restricted the jury to the finding of special facts, whic 
to guilty or not gvilfy, were merely indifferent. This 
ticular motive, combined with his genera! purpose to 
tract the power of juries, will account for the charg 
delivered in Wocdfall's trial. He told the jury, in so i 
■words, that they had nothing to determine, except the 
oi printing andpvblishing, and whether or no the blmi 
iniicndoes, were properly filled up in the information : 
that, whether the defendant had committed a crime oi 
^i'as no matter of consideration to twelve men, who 
upon their oaths, were to pronounce their peer guillric 
guilii/. When we hear such nonsense delivered fron 
bench, and find it supported by alal'Oured train of sophi 
which a plain understanding is unable to follow, and v 
an unlearned jury, however it may shock their reason, 
not be supposed qualified to refute, can it be wonderec 
they should return a verdict, perplexed, absurd, or in 
feet'] Lord Mansfield has not yet explained to the vi 
why he accepted of a verdict which the court afterwarc 
aside a? illegal; and which, as it took no notice of the i 
does, did not even correspond with his own charge. If h 
known his duty, he should have sent the jury back. I s 
advisedly, and am well assured that no lawyer of ch 
ter in Westminster Hal! will contradict me. To sho' 
falsehood of Lord Mansfield's doctrine, it is not nece 
to enter into the merits of the paper which produce 
trial, li everv line of it were treason, his charge t 
iury would stifl be false, absurd, illegal and unconstiti 
al. If 1 stated the merits of my letter to the king, I s 
imitate Lord Mansfield, and-'^ travel out of the record. 

* The following quotation from a speech delivered by 
Chatham, on the Uth of December, 1770, is taken with 
ness. The reader will find it curious in itself, and vrrtj 
be inserted here: " My Lords, the verdict given in Wool 
trial was, 'guilty oi' printing and publishing only,' 
ivhich two motions were made in court: one, in arr 
judgment, by the defndaiiVs counsel, ground d upon th 
biguity of the verdict : the other, b:j the counsel for the i 
for a rule upon the defendant, to show cause why the x 
should not be entered up according to the legal import 
rvords. On both moiims a rule was granted ; and sooi 



PREFACE. 11 

?:1H' and «aj(i« speak plainly, we do not want fl?/</iori/!/ to 
tiire : our unrlerstandjiigs. Yet, for the honour of the pro- 
fessi n, I am content to oppose one lawyer to another, 
especially when it happens that the King's Attorney-Ge- 
neral ha^ virtually discl'Jimed the doctrine by which the 
Chief Justice meant to insure success to the prosecution. 
The opinion of the plaintitV's counsel (however it may be 
otherwise insio:nificant) is weighty in the scale of the de- 
fendant. My Lord Chief Justice dc Grey, who filed the in- 
formation ex officio, is directly with me. If he had concur- 
red in Lord Mansfield's doctrine, the trial must have been 
a very short one. The facts were either admitted by 
Woodfall's counsel, or easily proved to the satisfaction of 
the jury. But Mr. de Grey, far from thinking he should 
acquit himself of his duty, by barely proving the facts, en- 
tered largely, and I confess, not without ability, into the 
demerits of the paper, which he called a seditious libeJ. 
He dwelt but lightly upon those points which, accordino; 
to Lord iMansfield, were the only matter of consideration 
to the jury. The criminal intent, the libellous matter, the 
rernii-ious tendency of the paper itself, were the topics on 
which he principally insisted, and of which, for more than 
an hour, he tortured his faculties to convince the jury, 
If he agreed in opinion with Lord Mansfield, his discourse 
was impertinent, ridiculous, and unreasonable. But, un- 
derstanding the law as T do, what he said was at least con- 
sistent, and to the purpose. 

If any honest man should still be inclined to leave the 
» 

ihe malter was ar%wcd b'fore the court of King'' s Bench. The 
noV.c judge, nhen he delivered the opinion of the court vpon 
the verdict, rvcnt regvlarUj lhrcv%h ihe rvhole of the proceedings 
at Nisi Prius, as well the evidence that had been given, as his 
own charge to the jury. This proceeding noidd have been very 
proper, had a motion been made on eilker side for a nfiw trial; 
because either a verdict given contrary to evidence, or an im- 
proper charge by thejud^e at Nisi Prius, is held, to be a suffi- 
cient ground for granting a new trial. But when a motion is 
made in arrest of judgment, or for establishing the verdict, by 
entering it up according to the legal import (f the words, it 
must be on the ground of something appearing on the face of 
the record ; aii/l the court, i?j considerijig whether the verdict 
shall be established or7iot,are so confined to the record, tAat 
they cannot take notice of any thing that does not appear on 
the face of it ; in the legal phrase, they caimot travel out of 
the record. The 7wble judge did travel out of the record : 
and I affl,m, that his discourse 7Vas irregufar, extrajudicial, 
and uji'precedented. His apparent motive for doijig what he 
knew to be wrong, was that he might have an opportunity of 
telling the public extrajudiciallv, that the other three judges 
conctlfred in the doctrine laid down in his charge." 



la PREFACE. 

construction of libels to the court, I would intreat him to 
consider -what a dreadful complication of hardships he im- 
poses upon his fellow-subjects. In the first place, the pro- 
secution commences by viformalion of an officer of the 
crown, not by the regular constitutional mocie of indict- 
mentheioTe agrana jury. As tiie fact is usually admitted, 
or, in general, can easily be proved, the office of the petty 
jury is nugatory. The court then judges of the nature and 
extent of the oiTence, and determines, ad arbitrium, the 
quanimn of the punishment, from a small fine to a heavy one, 
to repeated whipping, to pillory and unlimited impVison- 
ment. Cuttin;^ oJ ears an<) noses might still be inflicted by 
a resolute judge; but I will be candid enough to suppose, 
that penalties so apparently shocking to humanity, would not 
be hazarded in these times. In all other criminal prosecu- 
-tions, the jury decides upon the fact and the crime in one 
-word, and the' court pronounces a certain sentence, wliich 
iis-the sentence of the law, not of the judge. If Lord ?.lan3- 
£eid's doctrine be received, the jury must either find a ver- 
dict of acquittal, contrary to evicience, which,! can conceive, 
might be flone by very conscientious men, rather than 
^trust St fellow-creature to Lord Mansfield's mercy, or they 
must leave to the court two offices, never but in this in- 
stance united, of iindiug guilty, and awarding punish- 
ment. 

" But," says this honest Lord Chief Justice, " if the 
" paper be not criminal, the defendant (though found 
" guilty by his peei's) is in no danger, for he may move the 
" court in arrest of ju(igment.">' True, my good lord ; but 
■who is to determine upon the motion .' Is not the court- 
still to decide whether judgment shall be entered up or 
not ! and is not the defendant this way as effectually de- 
prived of judgment by his peers, as if he were tried in a 
court of civil law, or in the cliambers of the inquisition? 
It is you, my lord, who then try the crime, not the jury. 
As to the probable effect of the motion in arrest of judg- 
ment, I shall only observe, that no reasonable man would 
be so ea^er to possess himself of the invidious power of in- 
flicting punishment, If he were not predetermined to make 
use of it. 

Again, we are told tha^ -be judge and jury have a distinct 
office; that the jury is to find the fact, and the judge to de- 
liver the law. Dc'jure, respondent jitdices, de-facto juraii. 
The db-ttm is true, tTiough not in the sense given to it by 
Lord aiansfield. The jury are undoubtedly to determine 
the fact, tliatis, whether the defendant did, or did not, 
commit t!ie critng charged against him. The judge pro- 
nounces the sentfhce annexed by law to that fact so found ; 
and if, in the course of the trial, any question of law arises, 
both the counsel and the jury must, of necessity, appeal to 
the judge, and leave it to his decioion. An exception or 
pica in bar may be allowed by the court; but, when issue 
is ^ioed. aad the jury have received their charge, it is not 



PREFACE. 13 

possible, in the nature of things, for them to separate the 
law from the fact, unless Ihey Ihink proper to return a 
special verdict. 

It has also been alleged, tlat, although a common jury 
are sufficient to determine a plain matter of fact, they. are 
not qualified to comprehend the meaning, or to judge of tl\e 
tendency of a seditious libel. In answer to this objectiou 
(which, if well founded, would prove nothing as to tise 
strict ri^ht of returning a general verdict)*! might safely 
deny the truth of the assertion. Englishmen, ofthat rank 
from which juries are usually taken, are not so illiterate as 
(to serve a particular purpose) they are now represented. 
Or, admitting the fact, let a special jury be summoned in 
all cases of difliculty and importance, and the objection is 
removed. But the truth is, that, if a paper, supposed to 
be a lilel upon government, be so obscurely worded, that 
twelve common men cannot possibly see the seditious 
meaning and tenlency of it, it is in erlect no libel. It 
cannot intlame the minds of the people, nor alienate their 
artections from goveninient; for they no more understand 
what it means than if it were published in a language un- 
known to them. 

Upon the whole matter, it appears, to my understand- 
ing, clear, beyond a doubt, that if, in any future prosecu 
lion for a ^^edilious libel, the jury should bring in a verdict 
of acquittal, not warranted by tlie evidence, it will be 
owing to the false^BB a! surd doctrines laid down by Lord 
Mansfield. DisgusBfc at the odious artifices njade use of 
by the Judge to misTead and perplex them.fflrirded against 
his sophistry, and convinced of the false.oo't of his asser- 
tions, they may, perhaps, determine to th'^art his detesta- 
ble purpose, and Vefeat him at any rate. To Mm, at least, 
they will do subdantial justice. Whereas, if the w'lole 
charge laid in the information be fairly and bonestlj' sub- 
mi-ted to the jury, there is no reason whatsoever to pre- 
Bime that twelve men, upon their oaths, will no^Jfecide 
impartiallv between t'le ting and the c.efendant. flno nu- 
meroio instances, in our state trials, of verdicts ret nver- 
ed for the king, '-ufliciently refute the false and scami^ilous 
imputations thrown out by the aheitors of Lord ATan-r.eld, 
upon the integrity ot juries. But eyen admi*'ing the sup- 
position, tiiat, in times of univerial discontent, arising 
from the notorious mal-admini.strationof puiilic alVairs, a 
seditious writer should escape punishment, it makes no- 
thing aj^ainst my general argument. If juries are fallible, 
to what other tribunal shall we appeal ' if juries cannot 
Eai'ely be tra-^ted, i=ha»l we unite the cilices of judge and 
jury, so wisely <li>ided by the constitution, and trust im- 
plicitly^ Lord »'an3iield? .\.re the judges o{ the court of 
King'.Twncb nir e likelv to be unbia^^ed and imrartial 
than twelve yeuinen, burgesses, or gentlemen, taken indif- 
(ei eatly ft-ofli the country at large! Or, in gligrt, skali tUpre 



34 PREFACE. 

be no decision, until we have instituted a tribunal from 
which no possihle al>u?e or incrmvenience whatsoever can 
arise? If I am not grossly mistaken, these questions carry 
a decisive answer along with them. 

Having cleared the freedom of the press from a restraint 
equally unnecessary and illegal, I return to the use which 
has been made of it in the present puMication. 

National reflections, I confess, are not justified in the- 
ory, nor upon any general principles. To know how well 
they are deserved, and how justly they have been applied, 
we must have the evidence of facts before us. We must 
be conversant Avith the Scots in private life, and observe 
their principles of acting to us, and to each other; the cha- 
racteristic prudenclfe, the selfish nationality, the indefati- 
gable smile, the persevering assiduity, the everlasting pro- 
fession of a discreet and moderate resentment. If the in* 
stance were not too important for an experiment, it might 
not be amiss to confide a little in their integrity. Without 
any abstract reasoning upon causes and eifects, we shall 
Eoon be convinced, by experience, that the Scots, trans- 
planted from their own country, are always a distinct and 
separate body from the people who receive them. In other 
settlements, they only love themselves : in England, they 
cordially love themselves, and as cordially bate their 
neighbours. For the remainder of their good qualities I 
mu.st appeal to the reader's observation, urdess he will ac- 
cept of my Lord Barrin^ton'% ajthcrrffen a letter to the 
\d.ic Lord Mckpinbc, published by fimFLee ; he expresses 
himself with ?bruth and accuracy not very common in his 
Iordshii)'s lucuT'raticns. "And t ockburn, like viost of his 
covnirymcv, is as abject to thc>?e above him, as he is insolent 
to those below him." I am far from meaning to impeach 
the articles of the iinior. If the true spirit of those arti- 
cles were religiously achered to, we should not see such a 
multitude of Scotch commoners in the lower house, as re- 
pres«flBjatives of English boroughs, while not a single Scotch 
torougWs ever represeqtedby an Englishman. We should 
rot see English peerages given to Scotch ladies, or to the 
elder sons of Scotch peers, and the number of sixteen 
doubled and trebled by a scandalous evasion of the act of 
union. If it should ever be thought advisable to dissolve 
an act, the violation or observance of which is invariably 
directed by the advantage and interest of the Scots, I shall 
say very sincerely with Sir Edward Col e,* " When poor 
England stood alone, and had not the access of another king- 
dom and yet had more and as potent enemies as it now 
hath, yet the king of England prevailed." 

Some opinion oTay now be expected from me, upon a point 
of equal delicacy to the writer, and hazard to thMU-inter. 
When the character of the chief magistrate is in tPlestion, 

* FaTliame7Uarti Hislori/y vol. yii. p. 450. 



PREFACE. ;j 

2iore iinust be understood than may be saft-Iy expressed. 
If it be really a part of our coastitution, and not a mere 
dictum of the law, t/int tke king can do no wrong, it is not 
the only instance, in the wisest of human institutions, 
■where theory is at variance with practice. That the sove- 
reign of this country is not amenable to any form of trial 
tnown to the laws, is unquestionable. But exemption 
from punishment is asin.f^iilar privilege annexed to the roy- 
al character, and no way excludes the possibility of de- 
serving it. How long, and to what extent a king of Eng- 
land may be protected bylhe forms, when he violates the 
spirit of the constitution, deserves to be considered- A 
mistake in this matter proved fatal to Charles and his son. 
For my own (>art, far from thinking that the king can do no 
wrong, far from suttering myself to be deterred or impos- 
ed upon by the language of forms, in opposition to the sub- 
stantial evidence of truth, if it were my misfortune to live 
under the inauspicious reign of a prince, whose whole life 
was employed in one base contemptible struggle with the 
free spirit of his people, or in the detestable cmleavooRto 
corrupt their moral principles, I would not scruple to de- 
clare to him, " Sir, you alons are the author of the great- 
est wroi;g to your sul^jects and to yourself. Instead of 
reigning in the hearts of your people, insteadof command- 
ing their lives and fortunes through the medium of their 
aiVections, has not the strength of the crown, whether in- 
fluence or prerogative, been uniformly exerted for eleven 
yea s together, to support a narrow pitiful system oi go- 
vernment, which defeats itself, and answers no one pur- 
pose o! real power, profit, or personal satisfaction to you 7 
With the greatest miappropriated revenue of any prince 
In Europe, have we not seen you reduced to such vile and 
sordid distresses, as would have conducted any other man 
to a prison ? With a great military, and the greatest naval 
power in the known world, have not foreign nations re- 
peatedly insulted you with impunity? Is it not n;j|^rious, 
that the vast revenues, extorted from the la!>out and in- 
dustry of your subjects, and given to you to do honour to 
yourself and to the nation, are di-ssipated in corrupting 
their representatives! Are you a prince of the house of 
Hanover, and do you exclude all the leading whig families 
from j'our councils ? Do you profess to govern according to 
law, and i,s it consistent with that profession, to impart 
-your confidence and ad'ection to those men only who, though 
now perhaps detached from the desperate cause of the Pre- 
tender, are marked in this country by an hereditary at- 
tachment to high and arbitrary principles of government? 
Are you so infatuated as to take the sense of your people 
from the representation of ministeis, or from the shouts of 
a mob, notoriously hired to suiTound your coach, or sta- 
tioned at a theatre? And if you are in reality, that public 
man, that king, that magistrate, whicli these questions sup- 
pose you to be, ia it aoy aaswef to your peoiJle to say, 



IS rHEFACE. 

That amon* your domestics you are good-humoured: tbart 
to one lady you are faithful : that to your children you are 
indulgent ? Sir, the man who addresse.? j'ou in these terms 
is your best friend. He would willingly hazard his life in 
defeuce of your title to the crown ; and, if power be your 
object, wiU still show you how possible ills for a King of 
England, by the noblest means, to be the most absolute 
prince in Europe. You have no enemies, sir, but those 
who persuade you to aim at power without right, and who 
think it flattery to tell you, that the character of king dis- 
solves the natural relation between guilt and punishment." 

I cannot conceive that there is a heart so callous, or an 
understanding so depraved, as to attend to a discourse of 
this nature, and not to feel the force of it. But where is 
the man, among those who have access to the closet, reso- 
lute and honest enough to deliver it? The liberty of the 
\>Tcss is our only resource. It will command an audience, 
"ivhen every honest man in the kingdom is excluded This 
glorious privilege may be a security to the king, us well as 
a .Resource to. his people. Had there been no star-cham- 
ber, there would have been no rebellion against Charles the 
First. The constant censure and admonition of the prees 
would have corrected his conduct, prevented a civil war, 
and saved him from an ignominious death. I am no friend 
to the doctrine of precedents, exclusive of right; though 
lawyers often tell us, that whatever has been once done, 
may lawfully be done again. I shall conclude this jire/ace 
v'ith a quotation applicable to the suliject, from a foreign 
■writer,* whose essay on the English constitution I beg 
leave to recommend to the public as a performance, deep, 
solid, and ingenious. 

" In short, whoever considers what it is that constitutes 
the moving principle of what Ave call great atVairs, and the 
invincible sensibility of man to the opinion of his fellow- 
creatures, will not hesitate to affirm, that if it were possi- 
ble fop. the liberty of the press to exist in a despotic go- 
vernment, and (what is not less diificult) for it to exist 
without changing the constitution, this liberty of the press 
would alone form a counterpoi.se to the power of the prince. 
If, for example, in an empire of the east, a sanctuary could 
le found, which, rendered respectable by the ancient reli- 
gion of the people, might ensure safety to those whoshould 
bring thither their observations of any kind ; and that, from 
thence, printed papers should issue, which, under a certain 
seal, might be equally respected; and which, in their dai- 
ly appearance, sho'ild examine and freely discuss the con- 
duct of the cadis, the bashaws, the vizir, the divan, and the 
sultan himself: that would introduce immediately some de- 
gree of liberty." 

* Mens U lit de Lohne. 



LETTERS OF JUNIUS. 

LETTER I. 

Addressed to the Printer of the Public Advertiser, 

Sir, Janu.vry2I, 1760. 

The submission of a free people to the executive 
autijority of govcrninent, is no more than a compli- 
ance with laws which they themselves have enacted. 
While the national honour is firmly maintained 
abroad, and while j(i?tice is i'mpartially administer- 
ed at home, the obedience of the subject will be vo- 
luntary, cheerful, and I might almost say, unlimited. 
A generous nation i.* grateful even for the preservation 
of its rights, and willingly extends the respect due to 
the offiee of a good prince into an affection for his 
person. Loyalty, in the heart and understanding of 
an Englishman, is a rational attachment to the guar- 
dian of the laws. Prejudices and passion have some- 
times carried it to a criminal length, and, whatever 
foreigners may imagine, we know that Englishmen 
have erred as much in a mi.-taken zeal for particular 
persons and families, as they ever did in defence of 
what they thought most dear and interesting to them- 
selves. 

It naturally fills us with resentment to see' such a 
temper insulted and abused. lu reading the history 
of a free people, whose right? have been invaded, we 
are interested in their cause. Our own feelings tell 
us how long they ought to have«*bmitted, and at 
what moment it would have been iR^chery to them- 
selves not to have resisted. How much warmer will 
be our resentment, if experience should bring the fatal 
example home to ourselves! 

The situation of this country is alarming enough to 
rouse the attention of every man^who pretends to a 
concern for the public M'elfare. Appearances justify 
suspicion ; and when thesafetj^ oflft nation is at stake, 
BU.spicion is a just ground of inquiry. Let us enter 



18 JUNIUS. 

into it with candour and- decency. Respect is due to 
the station of ministers j and, if a resolution must at 
last be taken, there is none so likely to be supported 
with firmness, as that which has been adopted with 
moderation. 

The ruin or prosperity of a state depends so much 
upon the administration of its government, that, to be 
acquainted with the merit of a ministry we need only 
observe the condition of the people. If we see them 
obfdient to the law?, prosperous in their industry, 
united at home, and respected abroad, we may rea- 
sonably presume that their afFiirs are conducted hy 
men of experience, abilities, and virtue. If, on the 
contrary, we see an universal spi'it of distrust and 
dissatisfaction, a rapid decay of trade, dissensioiisin all 
part? of the empire, and a total loss of respect in the 
eyes of foreign powers, we may pronounce, without 
hesitation, that the government of that country is 
weak, distracted, and corrupt The multitude in all 
countries, aic patient to a certain point. Ill usage 
may rouse their iudij2;nation, and hurry them into 
excesses ; but the orijinal fault is in government. 
Perhaps there never was an instance of a change, in 
the circumstances and temper of a whole nation, so 
sudden and extraordinary as that which tlie miscon- 
duct of ministers has within these few years produced 
in Great Britain. Wlien our gracious sovereign as- 
cended the throne, we were a flourishing and a con- 
tented people. If the personal virtues of a king could 
have ensured the happiness of his subjects, the scene 
could not have altered so entirely as it has done. The 
idea of nn, ting all parties, of trying all characters, and 
distributing the offices of state by rotation, was gra- 
cious and benevolent to an extreme, though it has not 
yet produced the many salutary effects which were 
intended by it. 2^ say nothing of the wisdom of such 
a plan, it undoujJPply arose from an unbounded good- 
ness of heart, in which folly had no share. It was not 
a capricious partiality to new faces -, it was not a na- 
tural turn for low intrigue; nor was it the treacherous 
amusement of double and triple negotiations. No, sir, 
it arose from a continued anxiety, in the purest of all 
possible hearts, for the general welfare Unfortunate- 
ly for us, the everA has not been answerable to the 
4iesigR. After a i^pid succeesion of changes, we arc 



JUNIUS. 19 

redijred to that state whiclj hardly any change can 
mend. Yet there is no extremity ot distress which, of 
itself, ought to reduce a great nation to despair. It 
is not the disorder, but the physician : it is nqfl|| ca- 
sual concurrence of calamitous circumstancegplt is 
the pernicious hand of government which alone can 
make a whole people desperate. 

Without much political sagacity, or any extraordi- 
nary depth of (^ervation, we need only mark hov^ 
the principal dejfertments of the state are bestowed, 
and look no further for the true cause of every mis- 
chief that befalls us. 

The* finances of a nation, sinking under its debts 
and expenses, are committed to a young nobleman al- 
ready ruined by play. Introduced to act under the 
auspices of Lord Chathum, and left at the head of af- 
fairs by that nobleman's retreat, he became minister 
by accident; but deserting tbe principles and profes- 
sions which gave him a moment's popularil^y, we see 
him, from fvery honourable engagement to the public, 
an apostate by design. As for business, the world j'ct 
knows nothing of his talents or resolution ; unless a 
wayward, wavering inconsistency be a mark of ge- 
nius, and caprice a demonstration of spirit. It may be 
said, perhaps, that it is liis grace's province, as surely 
it is his passion, rather to distribute than to save the 
public money ; and that while Lord North is Chan- 
cellor of the Exchequer, the first Lord of the Treasu- 
ry may be as thought less and extra vaga nt as })<• pleases. 
IJiO[)e, however, lie will not rely too much on tiie fer- 
tility of Lord North's genius for finance; his lordship 
is yet to give nsthefirstproof of hisabilitif\'j. It may 
be candid to suppose, that he has hitherto voluntarily 
concealed his talents ; intending, perhaps, to astonish 
the world, when we least expect it, with a knowledge 
of trade, a choice of expedients, and a depth of re- 

* The Duke of Grafton took the office of Secretary of 
State, ivith an engagement to suppoj-tthe Marquis oi' Kock- 
hi<:;ham's administration. He rebi.2ned, however, in a little 
time, under pretence that he could not act without l^ord 
Chatham, nor hear to see Mr. Wilkes abandoned : but that 
under Lord Chatham he would act in any office. This was 
tbe sijrnal of Lord Rockingham's dismission When Lord 
Chatham came in, the Duke got possession of the treasury^ 
Reader, mark the consequenceJ 



20 JUNIUS. 

sources, equal to the necessities, and far beyond t]i© 
hopes of his country. He must now exert the whole 
power of his capacity, if he would wish us to forget, 
thatJ^nce he has been in office, no plan has been 
forialf, no system adhered to, nor any one important 
measure adopted for the relief of public credit. ^ If his 
plan for the service of the current year be not irrevo- 
cably fixed on, let me warn him to think seriously 
of consequences before he venture^to increase the 
public debt. Outraged and oppressed as we are, this 
nation will not bear, after a six years' peace, to see 
new millions borrowed, without an eventual diminu- 
tion of debt, or reduction Oi interest. The attempt 
might rouse a spirit of resentment which might reach 
beyond the sacrifice of a minister. As to the debt 
upon the civil list, the people of England expect, that 
it will not be paid without a strict inquiry how it was 
incurred. If it must be paid by Parliament, let me 
advise the Chancellor of the Exchequer to think of 
gome better expedient than a lottery. To support aa 
expensive war, or in circumstances of absohite necessi- 
ty, a lottery may perhaps be allowable ; but, besides 
that it is at all times the very worst way of raising 
money upon the people, I think it ill becomes the 
royal dignity, to h ive the debts of a King provided 
for like the repairs of a country bridge or a decayed 
hospital. The management of the King's affairs ia 
the House of Commons, cannot be more disgraced 
than it has been. A leading minister* repeatedly 
called down for absolute ignorance, ridiculous mo- 
tions ridiculously withdrawn, deliberate plans discon- 
certed, and a week's preparation of graceful oratory 
lost in a moment, give us some, thnngh not adequate 
ideas of Lord Nortli's Parliam'-ntary abilities and in- 
fluence. Yet, before he had the misfortune of being 
Chancellor of the Exchequer, he was neither an object 
of derision to his enemies, nor of melancholy pity to 
his friends. 

A series of inconsistent measures has alienated the 
colonies from their duty ns subjects, and from their 
natural affections to their common country. When. 
Mr. Grenville was placed at the head of the treasury, 
be felt the impossibility of Great Britain's supporting 

* Tbis bappeaeci fre(j[uejitly to poor LorU NortB, 



JUNIUS. 21 

luch an establisliment, as her former successes had 
made indispensable, and at the same time of giving 
an)' sensible relief to foreign trade, and to the weight 
of the public debt. He thought it equitable, that 
those parts of the empire wliicb had benefited most by 
the expenses of the war, should contribute something 
to the expenses of the peace, and he had no doubt of 
the constitutional ri^ht vested in parliament to raise 
the contritiutinu. But, unfortunately for this country, 
Mr. Greuville was at any rate to be distressed, be- 
cause he was minister ; and Mr. Pitt* and Lord Cam- 
den were to be the patrons of America, because they 
were in opposition. Theirdeclaration gave spirit and 
argument to the colonies; and while, perhaps, they 
meant no more than the ruin of a minister, they, ia 
eflfect, divided one half of the empire from the other. 
Under one administration the stamp-act is made; 
under the second it is repealed; under the third, in 
spite of all experience, a new mode of taxing the colo- 
nies is invented, and a question revived which ought 
to have been buried in oblivion. In these circum- 
stances a new office is estvibiished for the business of 
the plantations, and the Earl of Hilsborough called 
forth, at a most critical season, to govern America. 
The choice, at least, announced to us a man of supe- 
rior capacity and knowledge. Whether he be so or 
not, Jet his despatches, as far as they have appeared, 
let his measures, as far as they have operated, deter- 
mine for him. In the former we have seen strong 
assertions witliout proof, declamation without argu- 
ment, and violent censures without dignity or mode- 
ration ; but neither correctne.'^sin the composition, nor 
judgment ifi the design. As foi- his measures, let it be, 
remembered, that he was called upon to conciliate and 
unite; and that, when he entered into office, the most 
refractory of ihe colonies were still disposed to proceed 
by the constitutional methods of petition and remon- 
strance. iSince that period they have been driven 
into excesses little short of rebellion. Petitions have 
been hindered from reaching the throne ; and the 
continuance of one of the principal assemblies rested 

* Yet Jiinii/s ba.s been called the partisaa of Lord Chat- 
ham ! 



22 JtlNlUS. 

upon an arbitrary condition,* which, considering the 
temper they wrre in, it was impossible Ihey should 
comply with ; and which would have availed nothing, 
as to the general question, if it had been complied 
with. So violent, and I believe I may call it, so un- 
constitutional, an exertion of the prerogative, to say 
nothing of the weak, injudicious terms in wiiich it was 
conveyed, gives us as humble an opinion of his Lord- 
ship's capacity, as it does of hi? temper and modera- . 
tion. While we are at peace with other nations, our 
military force may, perhaps, be spared to support the 
Earl of H ilsborough's measures in \mf rica. Whene- 
ver that force shall be necessarily withdrawn or di- 
minished, the disniission of such a minister will neither 
console us for his imprudence, nor remove the settled 
resentment of a people, who, complaining of an act of 
the legislature, are outraged by an unwarrantable 
stretch of prerogative, ^nd, supporting their claims by 
argument, are insulted with declamation. 

Drawing lots would be a prudent and reasonable 
method of appointinff the officers of state, compared 
to a late disposition of the Secretary'? office. Loril 
Rochford was acquainted with the affairs and temper 
of the southern courts; Lord Weymont'i was equally 
qualified for either department,! by what unaccoimta- 
hle caprice has it happened, thnt tlie latter, who pre- 
tends to no experience whatsoever, is removed to the 
most important of the two departm.-nts, and the for- 
mer, b.y preference, placed in an office where his ex- 
perience can be of no upe to him ? Lord Weymouth 
had distinguished iiim?elf, in his first employment, by 
a spirited, if not judicious, conduct. He had animat- 
ed the civil magistrate beyond the tone of civil au- 
thority, and had directed the operations of t!ie army 
to more than military execution. Recovered from 
the errors of his youth, from the distraction of play, 
and tlie bewitching smiles of Burgundy, behold him 
exerting the whole strength of his clear, unclouded 
faculties, in the service of the crown. It was not the 

* That they should retract one of their resolutions, andj 
erase tneenlrv of it. 

t It wa'* pretended that the Earl of Rochford, while am- 
bassBfior in France, had quarrelle'l with the Duke of Choi- 
seul ; an -I that, therefore, he was appointed to the Northern 
Department, oat of compliment to the French minister. 



JUNIUS. 23 

\f>'it ofniiclnight excessc?, nor ignorance of the laws, 
uoi- the furious spirit of the hoiire of Bedford ; no, sir, 
wh'^n this respectable minister interposed his authori- 
ty )etweon the magistrate and the people, and signed 
Ui mandate, on vvnich, for aught lie knew, the lives 
or honsands depended, he (Kd it from the deliberate 
notion of his heart, supported b^ the best of his 
rf ;ment. 

: has lately been a fashion to pay a compliment 

'. he bravery and generosity of the commander, in 

liaf,* at the expense of his understanding. They 

• > love him least, make no question of his courage, 
le his friends dwell chiefly on the facility of his 
losition. Admitting him to be as brave as a total 
ence of all feeling and reflection can make him, 

' us see what sort o"f merit he derives from the re- 

• inder of his character. If it be generosity to ac- 

• .nulate, in his own person and family, a number of 
i rative employments ; to provide, at the public ex- 
{! se, for every creature that bears the nameof Man- 
.' s; and, neglecting the merit and services of tlie 
' : of the army, to heap promotions upon his favonr- 

and dependants ; the present conunander in chief 
he most genprous man alive. Nature has been 

• ring other gifts to this noble lord; but where 
'■■ tl\ and fortune are united, we expect tiie noble 
' ie and independence of a man of spirit, not the 
.• t'ile humiliating complaisance of a courtier. As 

'i- che goodness of his heart, if a proof of it be taken 
iioiithe facility of never refusing, what conclusion 
^\'.M we draw from the indecency of never perform- 
» ? And if the discipline of the army be in an> de- 
!^) e preserved, what thanks are due to a man, whose 
(;Ace3 notoriously confined to filling up vacancies, 
:\::ve degraded the office of commander in chief into 
•• iroker of commissions? 

rt'ith resppct to the navy, I shall only say that this 
' intry is no highly indebted to Sir Edward HhavJcp, 
' . it no expense should be spared to secure to hiic an 
; nourable and affluent retreat. 

The pure and imnariial administration of j'ist ceis, 
,; -rhaps, the firmest bond to secure a cheeifiil si!bmis- 

»n of the people, and to engage their affections to 

* Th« late Lord Grwiby. 



24 JUNIUS. 

government. It is not sufficient that questions of pri- 
vate ri^^lit or wrong are justly decided, nor that judges 
are superior to the vileness of pecuniary corruption. 
JefFeries himself, when tlie court h^d no interest, was 
an upright judge. A court ol j;istice may he subject 
toanother sort of bias, more iinnortHutaud pernicious, 
as it reaches beyond the interest of individuals, and 
affects the whole community. A judge under the in- 
ftiienre of government may be honest enough in the 
decii-ion of private causes, yet a tiaitorto the public. 
When a victim is marked out by the ministry, this 
judge will offer himself to perform the sacrifice. Ke 
will not scruple to prostitute his dignity, and betray 
the sanctity of his office, whenever an arbitrary point 
is to be carried for jjovernment, or the resentment of 
a court to be gratified. 

These principles and proceedings, odious and con- 
temptible as they are, in effect are no less injudicious. 
A wise and generous people are roused by (H'e.ry ap- 
pearance of oppressive, unconstitiitional measures, 
whether those measures are supported only b\ the 
power of gnvernmf'ut, or masked, under the form of a 
court of justice.- Prudence and self preservation will 
oblige the most moderate dispositions, to m.^ke com- 
mon cause, even with a man whose conduct they cen- 
sure, if they see him persecuted in a way whicli the 
real spirit of the laws will not justify. The facts on 
whicii these remarks are founded are too notorious to 
require an application. 

Tlii>', sir, is the detail. In one view, behold a na- 
tion overwhelm.ed with debt; h.-r revenues wasted, 
her trade declining; the affections of her colonies 
alienated; the duty of the magistrate transferred tt) 
the soldiery ; a gallant army, which never fought un- 
willingly but agniust tht^ir fellow subjects, mouldering 
away for want of the direction of a man of commou 
abilities and spirit; and, in the last instance, the ad- 
ministration of justice become odious and suspected 
to the whole body of the people. This deplorable 
scene admits of but one addition : that we are govern- 
ed by counsels from which a reasonable man can ex- 
pect no remedy but poison, no relief but death. 

If, by the iiumediate interposition of Providence, 
it were possible for us to escape a crisis so full of ter- 
rar and despair, po'iterity will not believe the history 



JUNIUS. 25 

rf the present times. They will either conclude that 
our dislre.eses wore imaginary, or that we had the 
jood fortune to be governed hy men of acknowledged 
integrity and wisdom: they wi 1 not believe it possi- 
ple, tliat their ancestors could have survived or re- 
covered from so desperate a condition, while a Duke 
3f Grafton was prime minister, and a Lord North 
chancellor of the excliequer ; a Weymouth and a 
Hfillsborough secretaries of state; aGranby comman- 
der in cluef: and a Mansfield chief criminal judge of 
:he kingdom. JUiVlUS. 



LETTER II. 

To the Printer of the Public Advertiser. 

!iR, Januabt 26, 176S. 

The kin|?dom swarms with such numbers of feloni- 
nn? robbeis of private character and virtue, that no 
tionestor goodmsn is safe; especially as these coward- 
ly, base ass .ssins, stab in (he dark, without having 
tlic courng to sign their real names to their malevo- 
lent and wicked pioductinns. A writer, who" signs 
liimself Junius, in tlie Public Advertiser of the 21st 
instant, opens the deplorable situation of his country, 
in a very afteciiug n)anner. With a pompous parade 
Df his candour and dfct^ucy, he tells us, that we see 
dissensions in ail parts of the empire, an universal 
spirit of distrust and dissatisfaction, and a total loss 
of respect toward us in tlie eyes of foreign powers. 
But this writer, with all liis boasted candoiu-, has not 
told us the real cause of the evils he so pathetically 
Snumerates. I shall take the liberty to explain the 
jause for him. Junius, and such writers as himself, 
Dccasion all the miscliief complained of, by falsely and 
maliciou'^ly traducing the l)est characters intheking- 
dom : for when our deluded people at home, and 
foreiijriers abroad, read tlie poisonous and inflamma- 
tory libi'ls that are daily published with impunity, to 
i^ilify those who are any way di>tingi;ished by their 
2;ood qualities and en'inent virtues; when they find 
io notice taken of, or reply given to these slanderous 
congues and pens, their conclusion is, that both the 



20 J-UNIUJl 

ministers and the nation have been fairly tlescri-. 
and they act accordingly. I think it, therefore, 
duty of every good citizen to stand forth, and en 
vour to undeceive the public, when the vilest arts 
made use of to defame and blacken the brigl 
characters among us. An eminent author affiri 
to be almost as criminal to hear a worthy man 
duced, without attempting his jsistification, as t 
the author of the calumny against him. For ray 
part, I think it a sort of misprision of treason ag 
society. No man, therefore, who knows Lord G 
by, can possibly hear so good and great a chart 
most vilely abused, without a warm and just indi 
tion against this Junius, this high-priest of e 
malice, and all uncharitableness, wiio has endear 
ed to sacrifice our beloved commander in chief, a 
altars of his horrid deities. Nor is the injury do 
liis lordship alone, but to the v.hole notion, w 
may too soon feel the contempt, and consequentl; 
attacks, of our late enemies, if they can be ind 
to believe, that the person on whom the safety of 1 
kingdoms so much depends, is unequal to his 
station, and destitute of those qualities which fo 
good general. One would have thought tha 
lordi^hip's services in the cause of his country, 
the battle of Culloden to his most glorious conch 
of the late wai', might have entitled him to con 
respect and decency at least ; but this uncandid 
decent writer, has gone so far as to turn one o 
most amiable men of the age, into a stupid, unfee 
and senseless being; possessed, indeed, of pen 
courage, but void of those essential qualities ^ 
distinguish the commander from the common sol 
A very long, uninterrupted, impartial (I will 
a most disinterested friendsliip) with Lord Gra 
gives me the riijht to affirm, that all Junius's asser 
are false and scandalous. Lord Granby's cou 
though of the brightest and most ardent kin 
amongst the lowest of his numerous good quali 
he vvac foimed to excel in war, by nature's liber 
to his mind as well as person. Educated and inst 
ed by his most noble father, and a most spii ib 
well as excellent scholar, the present Bishop of 
gor, he was trained to the nicest sense of honour, 

to the truest and noblest soi't of pride, that of s 



JUNIUS. 27 

ing or suffering a mean action. A sincere love and 

:aclunent to his king and countrj*, and to tiieir 

>ry, first impelled him to the field, where he never 

Ined ought out honour. He impaired, through his 

unty, his own fortune; for liis bounty, whicli this 

iter would in vain depreciate, is founded upon the 

t)lest of the human affections ; it flows from a heart 

Iting to goodness; from the most refined humanity. 

n a man, who is described as unfeeling and void of 

! lection, be constantly employed in seeking proper 

Injects, on whom to exercise tliose glorious virtues of 

• . npassiou atid generosity p The distressed officer, 

, - soldier, the widow, the orphan, and a long list be- 

o«, know that vanity has no share in his frequent 

it Ions; he gives, because he feels their distresses. 

. has he ever been rapacious with one hand, to be 

intifui witii the other. Yet this uncandid Junius 

:ald insinuate, that the dignity jf the commander 

dhief is degraded into the base^ice of a coramis- 

\ broker; that is, Lord Gr^i^y bargains for the 

; of commissions; for it musniave this meaning, if 

IS any at all. But where is the man living who 

i istl|r charge his lordship with such mean^prac- 

■' Vi hy does not Junius produce him ? Junius 

;#hat he has no other means of wounding this 

. thun from some missile weapon, shot from an 

ii.e corner. He jeeks, as all such defamatory 

lers do, 

— spargcre voces 



^vulgum ambiguas,- 

on i 



1-e susjucion in the minds of thfi people. But I 
that my countrymen will be no longer imposed 
', by artful and designing men, or by wretche?, 
bankrupts in business, m fame, and in fortune, 
;i nothing more tlian to involve this country in tiie 
e common ruin with themselves. Hence ills, that 
' are constantly aiming their dark, and too often 
!, weapons against those who stand forth as the 
rark of our national safety. Lord Granby was 
i-onspic'ious a mark not to be their object. He is 

attacked for being unfaithful to his promises and 
igemeuts. Where are Junius's proofs? Altiionglv 
uld give some instances where a breach of promise 
Id be a virtue, especially in the case of those wlio 
-Id pervert the open, upsuspecting moiaeiits of con- 



28 JUNIUS. 

vivial mutli, into sly, in?idious applications for prefer- 
ment or party-systemn, and would endeavour to sur- 
prise a good man, who cannot bear to see any one 
leave him dissatisfied, into unguarded promises. Lord 
Granby's attention to his own family and relations is 
called selfish. Had he not attended to them, when 
fair and just opportunities presented lliemselves, I 
should have thought him unfeeling, and void of re- 
flection indeed. How are any man's friends or rela- 
tions to be provided for, but from the influence and 
protection of the patron ? It is unfair to suppose, that 
Lord Granby's friends have not as much merit as the 
friends of any other great man. If he is generous at 
the public expense, as Junius invidiously calls it, the 
public is at no more expense for his lordship's friends, 
than it would be if any other set of men possessed 
those offices. Tlie charge is ridiculous ! 

The last chargJbgainst Lord Granb}' i? of a most 



serious and alarnuri^nature indeed. Junius asserts, 
that the army is m^Kdering away, for want of the 
direction of a man of common abilities and spirit. 
The present coudilion of the army gives the^irecte.«t 
lie to his issrrtions. It was never upon a'^iore re- 
spectable footing with regard to discipline anc^ll the 
essentials that can form good soldiers. Jiord loonier 
delivered a firm and noble palladium of our gaieties 
into Lord Granby's hands, who has kept it in the 
same good order in which he received it. The strict- 
est care has been takeu to fill up the vacant commis- 
sions with such gentlemen as have tfce glory of tlieir 
ancestors to support as well as their own; and are 
doubly bound to the cause of their king and country, 
from motives of private pro[)erty, as well as public 
spirit. The adjutant-general, who has the immediate 
care of the troops after Lord Granby,i'^ an officer that 
would do great honour in any service in Europe, for 
hi- correct arrangements, good sense and discernment 
upon all occasions, and for a punctuality and precision 
which give the most entire satisfaction to all who are 
obliged to consult him. The reviewing generals, who ' 
inspect the army twice a year, have been selected' 
•with the greatest care, and have answered the ira-1 
portant trust reposed in them in the most laudable] 
-manner. Their reports of the condition of the army, j 
are much more to be credited than those of Junius,J 



JUNIUS. 2& 

whom I do advise to atone for his shaniefol asper- 
«ions, by asking pardon of Lord Granby and the 
whole kingdom, whom he has offended by his abomi* 
nable scandals. In short, to turn Junius's own battery 
against him, I must assert, in his own words, " that 
he has given strong assertions without proof, decla- 
mation without argument, and violent censures with- 
out dignity or moderation." 

VV ILLIAM DRAPER, 



LETTER III. 

To Sir William Draper, Knight of the Bath. 

,?1R, February 7, 1769. 

Your defence of Lord Granby does honour to the 
igoodness of your heart. You feel, as you ought to do, 
for the reputation of your friend, and you expre.ss 
yourself in the warmest language of your passions. 
In any other cause, I doubt not you would have cau- 
tiously weighed the consequences of committing your 
name to the licentious discourses and malignuit opi- 
nions of the world. But here, I presume, you thought 
it would be a breach of friendship to lose one moment 
in consulting your understanding ; as if an appeal to 
tlie public were no more than a military coup demain^ 
where a brave man has no rules to follow but the 
dictates of his courage. Touched with your genero- 
sity, I freely forgive the excesses into which it has #ed 
you ; and, far from resenting those terms of reproach, 
wliich, coii-ideiing that you are an advocate for de- 
;orum, you have heaped upon me rather too liberal- 
ly, I place them to the account of an honest, unre- 
iecting indignation, in which your cooler judgment 
and natural politeness had no concern. 1 approve of 
the spirit with which you have given your name to 
:1^ public; and if it were a proof of any thing but 
j!-"piiit, I should have thought myself bound to follow 
v'our example. I should have hoped that even mjf 
lame might carry some authority with it, if 1 had not 
ieeu how very little weight or consideration a printed 
oaper receives even from the respectable signature of 
Sir William Draper. 

B 



30 JUNIUS. 

You begin with a general assertion, that writer?, 
such as 1 am, are the real caupe of all the public evils 
we comphin of. And do you really think, Sir Wil- 
liam, that the licentious pen of a jiolitical writer is 
able to produce such important effects;^ A little calm 
reflection might have shown you, that national cala- 
mities do notarise from the description, hut from the 
real cliaracter and conduct of ministers. To have 
-ui)ported your assertion, you should have proved 
liiat the present ministry are unquestionably the best 
and brightest characters of the kingdom ; and that, if 
the affections of the colonies have been alienated, if 
/Corsica has been shamefully abandoned, if commerce 
languishes, if public credit is threatened with a new 
debt, and your own Manilla ransom most dishonoura- 
bly given up, it has all been owing to the malice of 
political writers, wlio will not suffer the best and 
br\;?h'est characters (liieaning still the present minis- 
try) to take a single right step, for the honour or 
interest of the nation. But it seems you were a little 
tender of coming to particulars. Your conscience 
insinuated to you that it would be prudent to leave 
the characters of Grafton, North, Hillsborougi), Wey- 
mouth, and Marisfield to shift for themselves; and 
truly, Sir William, the part you have undertaken is at 
least as much as you are equal to. 

Without disputing Lord Granby's courage, we are 
yet to learn in what articles of military knowledge na- 
ti.re has been so very liberal to his mind. If you have 
served with him, you ought to have pointed out some 
in * ant-es o" able disposition, and well-concerted en- 
terprise, whicli might fairly be attributed to his capa- 
city as a general. It is you, Sir William, wiio make 
yourfriend appear awkward and ridiculous, by giving 
him a laced suit of tawdsy qualifications, which nature ^ 
never intended hira to wear. I 

Vou say, he has acquired nothing but honour in the 
xield. Is the ordnance nothing? Are the blues no- 
thing? Is the command of the army with all the pa- 
tronage annexed to it nothing .f' Where he got these 
7tothings I know not ; but you at least ought to have 
told us when he deserved them. 

As to his bounty, compassion, &c. it Avould have 
been but little to the purpose, thougii you had proved 
ail that you have asserted. I meddie with nothing i 



JUxVIUS. 31 

but Ins character as commander in chief ; and though 
Jacquit him of the baseness of selling commissions, I 
Rill assert, tiiathis military cares have never extend- 
ed beyond the disposal of vacancies ; and I am justifi- 
ed by the complaints of the whole army, when 1 say, 
that, in this distribution, he consults nothing but par- 
lliment'ry interebts, or the gratification of bis imme- 
diate dependants. As to his servile submission to the 
reigning ministry, let me ask, whether he did not de- 
sert the cause of tlie whole army when he suffered Sir 
Jeffery Amherst to be sacririced, and what share he 
had in recalling that officer to the service? Did he 
not betray the just interest of the army in permitting; 
Lord Percy to have a regiment p And does he not, at 
this moment, give up all character and dignity as a 
gentleman, in receding from bis own repeated decla- 
rations in favour of Mr. Wilkes ? 

In the two next articles, 1 tliink, we are agreed. 
You candidly admit, that he often makes such pro- 
mises as it is a virtue in him to violate, and that no 
man is more assidious to provide for his relations at 
the public expense. 1 did not urge the last as an ab- 
solute vice in his disposition, but to prove tliat a 
careless disinterested SjArit is no part of his ci)aracter; 
and as to the other, i desire it may be remembered, 
that I never descended to the indecency of inquiring 
into his convivial hours. It is you. Sir VViliirim Dra- 
per, who have taken pains to represent your friend in 
; the character of a drunken landlord, who deals out 
his promises as liberally as his liquor, and will suffer 
no man to leave his t ible either sorrowful or sober. 
None but an intimate friend, who must frequently 
have seen him in these unhappy disgraceful moments, 
could have described him so well. 
; , The last charge, of the neglect of the army, is in- 
deed the most material of all. I am sorry to tell you, 
jSir William, that in this article your first fact i? fUse ; 
■ and as there is nothing more painful to me than to give 
• a direct contradiction to a gentleman of your appear- 
-;ance, 1 could wish, that in your future publications, 
;you would pay a greater attention to the truth of 
your premises, before you suffer your genius to hurry 
Eyou to a conclusion. Lord Li'jjonit r did not deliver 
lithe array (which you, in classical langi^age, are 
Jpkaaed W call a palladixim) into Lord Granby's 



I Jl 



32 JUNIUS. 

hands. It was taken from him, much against his iii- 
cUn.ition, some two or three years before Lord Gran- 
by was commander in chief. As to the state of tTO 
army, I should be glad to know where you have re- 
ceived your intelligence. Was it in the rooms at Bath 
or atyour retreat at Clifton? The reports of the re- 
viewing general* comprehend only a few regiments in 
England, which, as they are immediately under the 
royal inspection, are perhaps in some tolerable order. 
But do you know any thing of the troops in the West 
Indies, the Mediterranean, and North America, to say 
nothing of a whole army absolutely ruined in Ireland i' 
Inquire a little into fact?, Sir \Villi;-im, before you 
publish your next^panegyric upon Lord Granby ; and 
believ^■ me, you will find there is a fault at head- 
quarters, which even the acknowledged care and 
abilities of the adj;itant-gi^neral cannot correct. 

Permit me now. Sir William, to address myself per- 
son illy to you, by way of thanks for the honour of 
your correspondence. You are by no means unde- 
serving of notice, and it may be of consequence even 
to Lord Granby, to have it determined, whether or 
no the man, who has praised him so lavishly, be him- 
self deserving of praise When you returned to Eu- 
rope, you zealously undertook the cause of that gallant 
army, by whose bravery at Manilla your own fortune 
had been established. You complained, you threat- 
ened, you even appealed to the public in print. By 
what accident did it happen, that, in the midst of all 
this bustle, and all these clamours for justice to your in- 
jured troops, the name of the Manilla ransom was 
suddenly buried in a profound, and, since that time, 
an uninterrupted silence ? Did the ministry suggest 
any motives to you, strong enough to tempt a man of 
honour to desert and betray the cause of his fellow 
sohliersi' Was it that blushing riband which is now 
the perpetual ornami^nt of your person;' Or, was it 
that regiment which you afterwards (a thing unore-r 
cedented among soldiers) sold to Colonel Gisbornep^ 
Or, was it that government, the full pay of which you 
are contented to hold, with the half-pay of an Irish 
colonel i^ And do you now, after a retreat not very 
like that of Scipio, iiresume to intrude yourself, nn- 
thoaght of, uncalled for, upon the patience of the 
IJublic i' Are your iatterics of the commander in cbifif 

%4 



JUNIUS. 3fi 

directed to another regiment, which yoii may agaia 
dispose of on the same honourable terms ? We know 
your prudence, Sir William ; and I should be soi|[^ 
to stop your preferment. JUNIUS. 



LETTER IV. 

To Junius. 

' Sir, • February 17, 1769. 

I RECEIVED Jiinius's favour last night; he is deter- 
mined to keep his advantage by the help of his mask : 
it is an excellent protection ; it has saved many a man 
from an untimely end. But whenever he will be 
honest enough to lay it aside, avow himself, and pro- 
duce the face which has so long lurked behind it, the 
world will be able to judge of his motives for writing 
such infamous invectives. His real naingjvill discover 
his freedom and independency, or his servility to a 
faction. Disappointed ambition, resentment for de- 
feated hopes, and desire of revenge, assume but too 
often the appearance of public spirit: but, be his de- 
signs wicked or charitable, Junius sliould leain, that 
it is possible to condemn measures without a barbarous 
and criminal outrage against men. Junius delights 
to mangle carcasses with a hatchet; his language and 

Instrument have a great connection with Clare-Mar- 
;etj and to do him justice, he handles his weapon 
Biost admirably. One would imagine he had been 
taught to throw it by the savages of America. It is, 
therefore, high time for me to step in once more to 
shield my friend from this merciless weapon, although 
Imay be wounded in the attempt. But I must first 
ask Junius, by what forced analogy and construction, 
the moments of convivial mirth are made to signify, 
ittdecency, a violation of engagements, a drunken 
'landlord, and a desire that evcvy one in company 
should be drunk likewise ! He must have culled all 
the flowers of St. Giles's and Billingsgate, to have 
jiroduced such a piece of oratorj/. Heie the hatchet 
descends with ten-fold vengeance: but alas ! it hurts 
no one but its ma>ter ! for Junius must not think 
to put words iuto my mouth, that sceai too foul evejj 
his o-ffa. 



|}r 



34 JUNIUS. 

My friend's political engagements I Icnow nSF^ 
cannot pretend to explTin them, or assert their con- 
si|^iicy. I know notwlielher Junius be considerable 
^rongli to belong to any party. If he .-hould be so, 
can he affirm, that he has always adhered to one set 
of men and measures ? U he sure that he has nover 
sided with those whom he was first hired to abuse? 
Has he never abused those he was hired to praise p 
To say the truth, most men's politics sit much too 
loosely about them. But, as my friend's military 
character was the chief object that engaged me in 
this controversy, to tliat I shall return. • 

Junius asks, what instances my friend has given of 
his military skill and capacity as a general ? when 
and where he gained his honour? When he deserved 
his emoluments? The united voice of the army which 
served under him, the glorious testimony of Prince 
Ferdinand, and of vanquished enemies, all Germany 
will teil him. Junius repeats the complaints of the ar- 
my against parliamentary influence. I love the army 
too well not to wish that such influence were less. 
Let Junius point out the time when it has not prevail- 
ed. It was of the least force in the time of that great 
man the late Duke of Cumberland, who, as a prince 
of the blood, was able, as well as willing, to stem a 
torrent wluch'would have overborne any private sub- 
ject. In time of war, this influence is small. In peace, 
when discontent and faction have the surest means to 
operate, especially in this country, and when, from a 
scarcity of public spirit, the wheels of government are 
rarelytnoved hut by the power and force of obliga- 
tions, its weight is always too great. Vet, if this in- 
fluence, at prtseut, has done no greater harm than 
the placing Earl Percy at the head of a regiment, I 
do not think that either the riglits or best interests of 
the army are sacrificed and betrayed, or the nation 
»mdone. Let me ask Junius, if he knows any one no- 
bleman in the army who iias had a regiment by seni- 
ority? I feel myself happy in seeing young noblemen 
of illustrious name and great property come among 
us. Tliey are an additional security to the kingdom 
from foreign or domes'tic slavery. Junius needs not 
to be told, that, should the time ever come, when this 
nation is to be defended only by those who have no- 
thing more to lose than their arms and their pay, its 



JUNIUS. 35 

dano;or will be great indeed. ~ A happy mixture of 
men of quality with soldiers of rortnnp, is ahvays to 
! be wished for. But the ninin point is still to bp. (-on- 
tended for; I mean the discipline and condition of 
; the army ; and I must still maintain, though contra- 
, dieted by Jimiiis, that it never was upon a more re- 
■ epectahle footing, astoall the essentials that can form 
good soldiers, than it is at present. Junius is forced 
to allow, that our army at hom&inay be in s >me tole- 
rable order ; yet, how kindly does he invite our late 
enemies to the iiivas-ion of Ireland, by assurino ihem, 
thatthe army in that kingdom istotally ruined ! (The 
colonels of that army are much obliged to him.) I 
have too great an opinion of the military t'llents of the 
Jord lieutenant, and of all their diligence and capaci- 
ty, to believe it. If, from some strange unaccounta- ■ 
ble fatality, the people of that kingdom cannot be in- 
duced to consult their own secui ity, by such an effecta- 
al augmentation, as may en ible the troops there to 
act Avith power and enrrgy, is the commander ia 
chief here to blame [' Or, is he to blame, because the 
troops in the Mediterranean, in tlip West Indies, in 
America, labour under great difficulties from the 
scarcity of men, which isbut too visible all over these 
kingdoms! Many of our forces are in climates unfa- 
vourable to British constitutions ; their loss is in pro- 
portion. Britain must recruit all these regiments from 
her own emaciated bosom ; or, more precariously, by 
catholics from Ireland. We are likewise subject to 
' the fatal drains to the East ludios, to Senegal, and 
the alarming emigrations of our people to other coun- 
tries. Such depopulation can only be rei)aired by a 
; long peace, or by some sensible bill of naturalization. 
I must now take the liberty of addresrina; Jimitis on 
: my own account. He is pleased to tell me, that he 
; addresses himself to me personally : I shall be glad to 
see him. It is hh impersonality i\mt I complain of, and 
i his invisible attacks ; for, his dagger in the air is only 
! to be regarded, because one cannot see the hand 
which holds it ; but, had it not wounded other people 
i more deeply than myself, I should not have obtruded 
: myself at all on the patience of the public. 

Mark how a plain tale shall put him down, and 
I transfuse the blush of my riband into his own cheeks. 
: Jimius tells me, that at my return, I zealously under- 
took the cause of the gallant army by whose braver/ 



30 JUNIUS. 

at Manilla my own fortunes were established ; that i 
romplained ; that I even appealed to the public. I 
did so; I glory in having done so, as I had an un- 
doubted right to vindicate my own character, attack- 
ed by a Spanish memorial, and to assert the rights of 
my brave companions I glory, likewise, that 1 have 
jiever taken up my pen but to vindicate the injured. 
Junius asks, by what accident did it happen, that^ in 
the midst of all this bustle, and all the clamours for 
justice to the iujured troops, the Manilla ransom was 
suddenly buried in a profound, aud, since that time, 
an uninterrupted silence ? I will explain the cause to 
the public. 1 heseveral miuisters wholiave been em- 
ployed since that time, have been very desirous to do 
justice, from two most laudable motives : a strong in- 
clination to assist irijured bravery, and to acquire a 
%vell.deserved popularity to themselves. Their efforts 
have been in vain. Some w^re in tenuous enough to 
own, that they could not think of involving this dis- 
tressed nation in another war for our private concerns. 
In short, our rights for tiie present, arc sacrificed lo 
national convenience; and I must confess, that al- 
though I may lose five-and-tvrenty thousand pounds 
by their acquiescence to this breach of faith in the 
Spaniards, I think they are in tlie right to temporise, 
considering the critical situation of this country, con- 
vulsed in every part, by poison infused by anonymous!, 
wicked, and incendiary writers. Lord Shelburne 
will dome the justice to own, that in September last, 
1 waited upon him with a joint memorial from the 
ndmiral, Sir S. Cornish, and myself, in behalf of our 
injured companions, Flis lordship was as frank upon 
the occasion as other secretaries haJ been before him. 
lie did not deceive us, by giving any immediate hopes 
of relief. 

Junius would basely insinuate, that my silence may 
have been purchased by my goveinment, by my blush- 
ing riband, by my regiment, by the r-ale of that regi- 
ment, and by half pay as an Irish colonel. 

His majesty was pleased to give me my govern- 
ment for my service at Madras. I had my first regi- 
ment in 17.57. Upon a\y return from Manilla, his 
majesty, by Lord Egremofit, informed me, that I 
should have the first vacant red riband, a?:' a reward for 
many services in an enterprise whio.h I had planned 
as well as executed. The Duke oi' Bedford aed Mr. 



JUNIUS. 37 

'Grenville confirmed those assurances, many raontha 
before the Spaniards had protested the ransom bills, 
To accommodate Lord Clive, then going upon a most 
important service to Bengal, I waved my claim to 
the vacancy which then happened. As there was no 
other vacancy until the Duke of Graftoa and Lord 
Rpckingham were joint ministers, I was then honour- 
ed with the order ; and it is surely no small honour 
to me, that, in such a succession of ministers, they 
were all pleased to think that I had deserved it; in 
my favour they were all united. Upon the reductioa 
of the 79th regiment, which had served so gloriously 
in the East Indies, his majesty, unsolicited by me, 
gave me the 16th of foot as an equivalent. My mo- 
tives for retiiing, afterwards, are foreign to the pur- 
pose; let it suffice, that his majesty was pleased to 
approve of them.: they are such as no man can think 
indecent, who knows the shocks that repeated vicissi-^ 
tudes of heat and cold, of dangerous and sickly cli- 
mates, will give to the best constitutions, in a pretty 
long course of service. 1 resigned my regiment to 
Colonel Gisborne, a very good officer, for liis half 

Say, and 2001. Irish annuity : so that, according to 
imius, I have been bribed to say nothing more of the 
Manilla ransom, and to sacrifice those brave men, by 
the strange avarice of accepting 380Z. per annum, ami 
giving up 800/. ! if this be bribery, it is not the bribery 
of these times. As to my flattery, those who know me 
will jud^e of it. By the asperity of Junius's style, I 
cannot, mdeed, call him a flatterer, unless he can be 
as a cynic or mastiff: if he wags his tail, he will stil! 
growl and long to bite. The public will now judge 
of the credit that ought to be given to Junius's wri 
tings, from the falsities that he has insinuated witli 
respect to myself. WILLIAM DRAPER, 



LETTER V. 

To Sir William Draper, Knight of the Balk, 

Sir, February, 21, 1769^ 

I SHOULD justly be suspected of acting upon motive*^ 
of more thao coiumon enmity to Lord Granbyj if 1 
b2- 



83 JUNIUS. 

continned to give you fresh materials or occasion for 
writing in his defence. Individuals who hate, and 
the puolic who despise, have read yoiir letters, Sir 
William, with infinitely more satisfaction than mine. 
Unfortunately for him, his reputation, like that un- 
happy country to whicl) you refer me for his last mi- 
litary achievements, has suffered more by his friends 
than his enemies. In mercy to him, let us drop the 
subject. For my own part I willingly leave it to the 
public to determine, whether your vindication of your 
friend has been as able and judicious as it was cer- 
tainly well intended : and you, I think, may be satis- 
fied with the warm acknowledgments he already owes 
you, for making him the principal figure in a piece, 
in which, but for your amicable assistance, he might 
have passed without particular notice or distinction. 
In justice to your friends, let your future labours 
be confined to the care of your own reputation. Your 
declaration, that you are happy in seeing young 
noblemen come among us, is liable to two objections. 
With respect to Lord Percy, it means nothing; for he 
was already in the army. He was aid-de-camp to 
the king, and had the rank of colonel. A regiment, 
therefore, could not make him a more military man, 
though it made him richer ; and probal)ly at the ex- 
pense of some brave, deserving, friendless officer. 
The otlier concerns yourself. After selling the com- 
panions of your victoiy in one instance, and after 
selling your profession in the other, by what authori- 
ty do you presume to call yourself a soldier ! The 
plain evidence of facts is superior to all declarations. 
Before you were appointed to the 16th regiment, 
your complaints vvere a distress to government: from 
that moment you were silent. The conclusion is in- 
evitable. You insinuate to us, that your ill state of 
health obliged you to quit the service. The retire- 
ment necessary torepair a broken constitution, would 
have been as good a reason for not accepting, as for 
resigning, the command of a regiment. There is cer- 
tainly an error of the press, or an nffected obscurity 
in that paragraph, where you speiik of your bargain 
with Colonel Git^borne. Instf^ad of attempting to an- 
swer what I do not really understand, permit me to 
explain to the public what I really know. In ex- 
-M-AUgQ for your regiment, you accepted of a colonel's . 



JUNIUS. ^ 

half pay, (at least 220Z. a year) and an annuity of 
200^ for your own and Lady Draper's life jointly. 
And is this the losing bargain, which you would rtpre- 
sent to us, as if you had given up an income of 8OOL 
a year for 380/. i' Was it decent, was it honourable, 
in a man who pretends to love the army, and calls 
himself a soldier, to make a traffi k of the royal fa- 
vour, and turn the highest honour of an active pro- 
fession into a sordid provision for himself and his 
family P It were unworthy of me to press you farther. 
The contempt with which the whole army heard of 
the manner of your retreat, assures me that, as your 
conduct was not justified by precedent, it will never 
be thought an example for imitation. 

The last and most important question remains. 
When you receive your half pay, do you or do you 
not, take a solemn oath, or sign a declaration upon 
your honour, to the following effect .f That you do not 
actually hold any place of piofit, civil or military, un- 
der his majesty. The charge which the question plainly 
conveys against you, is of so shocking a complexion, 
that I sincerely wish you may be able to answer it 
well ; not merely for the colour of your reputation, 
but for your own inward peace of mind. 

JUNIUS. 



LETTER VI. 

To Junius. 

Sir., February 27, 1769. 

I HAVE a very short answer for Junius's important 
question. I do not either take an oath or declare 
upon niy honour, that I have no place of profit, civil 
or military, vi^^fffi I receive the half pay as an Irish 
colonel. My most gracious sovereign gives it me 
a€ a pension : he was pleased to think I deserved it. 
The annuity of 200Z. Irish, and the equivalent for the 
half pay, together, produce no more than 380/. per 
annum, clear of fees and perquisites of office. I re- 
cpjve 167/. from my government at Yarmouth. Total 
547/. per annum. My conscience i^ nuich at ease io 
these particulars ; my fricads Qced not blusii for me: 



40 JUNIUS. 

Junius makes mncb and frequent use of interros^a- 
iiu?: they are arms that may be easily turned 
ag !! «* himself I could, by malicious interrogation, 
d;-. -jhthe peace of the most virtuous man in the 
kingdom. I couldtake the decalogue, andsaytoone 
man, Did you never steal p To the next, Did you 
never commit murder? And to Junius himself, wlio 
is putting; my life and^ conduct to the rack. Did you 
never " bear false witness against thy neighbour!'" 
Jufiius miist easily see, that, unless he affirms to the 
contiary, in his real name, some people, who maybe 
as ignorant of him as I am., will be apt to suspect 
hira of having deviated a little from the truth : there- 
ibre let Junius ask no more questions. Vou bite 
against a file : Cease, viper ! W. D. 



LETTER VII. 

To Sir William Draper, Knight of the Bath. 

Sn, MarchS, 17G9. 

An academical education has given you an unlimit- 
rd command over the most beautiful figuies of speech. 
Masks, hatchets, racks, and vipers, dance tlirough 
your letters in all the mazes of metaphorical confu- 
.«ion. These are the gloomy companions of a disturb- 
ed imagination: the melancholy madness of poetry, 
witl.o it the inspiration. 1 will not contend with you 
in joint of composition; you are a scholar. Sir Wil- 
liam; nnd, if I am truly informed, you write Latin 
with a i most as much purity as English. Suffer me 
then (for I am a plain unlettered man) to continue 
that style of interrogation which sui,ts my capacity, 
and to which, considering the readiness of y»mr 
answers, you ought to have no obji ctij||a. Even Mr. 
Bingley* promises to answer, if put torlie torture. 

Do yoii tiien reallv think, that if I were to ask a 
•most virtuous man, whether he ever commited theft 

* Tlis man being comiriitted by the Court of King's Bench 
for acf nL.^inpt, voluntarily marie oath, that he vould never 
answer iaterrogatories, unless he shovUd be put to the tor- 



JUNIUS. 4i 

or murder, it would disturb his peace of mind p Such 
a question might, perhaps, discompose the gravity of 
his iiitisck'S, but I believe it would little affect the 
tranquillity of his conscience. Examine your own 
•breast, Sir William, and you will discover, that re- 
proaches and inquiries have no power to afflict either 
the man of unblemished integrity, or the abandoned 
profligate. It is the middle compound character 
which alone is vulnerable; the man who, without 
firmness enough to avoid a dishonourable action, has 
feeling enougli to be ashamed of it. 

I thank you for tiie hint of the decalogue, and shall 
take an opportunity of applying it to some of your 
most virtuous friends, in both houses of parliament. 

You seem to have dropped the affair of your regi* 
ment ; so let it rest. AVhen you are appointed to ano- 
ther, I dare say you will not sell it either for a gross 
Bum, or for an annuity upon lives. 

I am truly glad (for really, Sir William, I am not 
your enemj'', nor did I begin tins contest with you) 
that you have been able to dear yourself of a crime, 
though at the expense of the highest indiscretion. 
You say that j'our half pay was given you by way of 
pension. I will not dwell upon the singularity of 
uniting in your own person two sorts of provision, 
which in their own nature, and in all military and 
parliamentary views, are incompatible; but I call 
upon you to justify that declaration, wherein )'0U 
charge your sovereign with having done an act ia 
your favour notoriously against law. The half pay, 
botli in Ireland and England, is appropriated by par- 
liament; and if it be given to persons who, like you, 
are legally incapable of holding it, it is a breach of 
law. It would have been more decent in you to have 
called this dishonourable transaction by its true name ; 
a job, to accommodate two persons, by particular in- 
terest and management at the castle. What sense 
must government liave had of your services, when the 
rewards they have given you are only a disgrace to 
you. 

And now, Sir William, I sliall take my l&ave of you 
for ever. Motives very different from any apprehen- 
sion ofyour resentment, make it impossible you should 
ever know me. In truth you have some reason to hold 
yourself indebted to me. From the lessons I have gi- 



42 JUNIUS. 

ven you, you may collect a profitable instruction for 
your future life. They will either teach you so to 
regulate your future conduct, as to be able to set the 
most malicious inquiries at defiance; or if that be a 
lost hope, they will teach you prudence enough, not 
to attract the public attention to a cliaracter which 
•will only pass without censure when it passes without 
observation.* JUNIUS. 



LETTER VIII. 

To the Duke of Grafton. 

a:Y LORD, March 18, 1769, 

Before you were placed at the head of afTiirs, it 
had been a maxim of the English government, not 
unwillingly admitted by the people, that every un- 
gracious or severe exertion of the prerogative should 
bo placed to the account of the minister; but, that 
whenever an act of grace or benevolence was to be 
performed, the whole merit of it should be attributed 

* It has been said, I believe truli/, that it mas signijicd to Sir 
IVilliam Draper, as the request of Lord Granby, that he should 
desist from rvriiivg in his lordship^s difencc. Sir William 
Draper certainli/ drew Jamas forward to say wore of Lord 
Oranby^s character than he originally intended. He was redu- 
ced to the dilemma, of eit'ier being totally silenced, or of sup- 
porting his first letter. Whether Sir WiUiam had a right to re- 
duce him to this dilemma, or to call upon himfor /u'.? name, after 
a voluntary attack on his side, are questions submitted to the 
candour of the public. The death of Lord Granby was lament- 
ed by Junius. He undoubtedly owed some compensations to the 
public, and seemed determined to acquit him sef of them. In 
■private life, he was u questionably that good man, who, for the ' 
interest of his country, ought to have been a great 07ie. Ronum 
■virum/dcile <1ixeris ; magnum libenter I speak of him now 
mithovt partiidity ; I never spoke of him with resentment. His 
mistakes, in public conduct., did not arise either from want of 
sentiment, or want (f judgment, but, in general, from the diffi- 
culty of saying no to the bad people who surrounded him. 

As for the rest, the friends (f Lord Granby should remember, 
that he himself thought proper to condemn, retract, and disa- 
vow, by a most solemn (hclaralion, In the House of Commons, 
that very system of political conduct which Juniu3 had hdi 
forth to ihc disapprobation t/fAc publie, 



JUNIUS. 43 

lo the sovereign himself.* It was a wise doctrine, my 
lord, and equally advantageous to the king and his 
subjects; for while it preserved that suspicious atten- 
tion with which the people ought always to examine 
the conduct of ministers, it tended, at the same time, 
rather to increase than diminish their attacliment to 
the person of their sovereign. If there be not a fata- 
lity attending every measure you are concerned in, 
by what treachery, or by what excess of folly, has it 
happened, that those ungracious acts whicti have dis- 
tinguished your administration, and which, I doubt 
not, were entirely your own, should carry with them 
a strong appearance of personal interest, and even of 
personal enmity, in a quarter where no sucli interest 
or enmity can be supposed to exist, without the highest 
injustice and the highest dishonour;^ On the other 
hand, by what judicious management have you con- 
trived it, that the only act-of mercy to which yoti 
ever advised your sovereign, far irom adding to the 
lustre of a cliaracter truly gracious and benevolent, 
should be received with universal disapprobation and 
disgust? I shall consider it as a ministerial measure, 
because it is an odious one; and as your measure, my 
Lord Duke, because yon are the minister. 

As long as the trial of tliis chairman was depend- 
ing, it was natural enough that government should 
give him every possible encouragement and support. 
The hoHourable service for which he was hired, and 
the spirit with which he performed it, made common 
cause between your grace and liim. The minister, 
who, by a secret corruption, invades the freedom of 
elections, and the ruffian, who by open violence, de- 
stroys that freedom, are embarked in the same bot- 
tom: they have the same interests, and mutually feel 
for each other. To do justice to your grace's human- 
ity, you felt for M'Quirk as you ought to do; and 
if you had been contented to assi^t him indirectly, 
without a notorious denial of justice, or openly in- 
sulting the sense of the nation, you might have satis- 
fied every duty of political friendship, without com- 
mitting the honour of your sovereign, or hazarding 
the reputation of his government. But when this 

* Les rois ne se sont rtstrvese que les grace f. Us ranvoiiftt 
ks condaninaticns vers Icvrs offickrs. Montesquieu. 



44 JU.YIUS. 

unhappy man had been solemnly tried, convicted, 
and condemned ; when it appeared that he had been 
frequently employed in the same services, and that 
no excuse for him could be drawn, either from the 
innocence of his former life, or the simplicity of his 
character; was it not hazarding too much, to inter 
pose the strength of the prerogative between this 
felon and the justice of the country p* You ought to 
have known that an example of this sort was never 
30 necessary as at present; and certainly you must 

* fVkitf.hall, March 11,1 769. His mnjesty has been gracious- 
hi pleased to extend his royal merci/ to Edward ]\t Quirk, found 
guilty of the murder oj George Clarke, as appears by his royal 
warrant, to thr tenor following : 
GEORGE R. 

Whtrcas a doubt has arisen in our royal breast cx)nce.rning 
the evidence of the death of George Clarke, from the represen- 
tations of William Broo7>iJicld, Esq. surgeon, and Solomon 
Starling, apothecary: both qfrnhom-, as it has been represented' 
io us, attended the deceased before his death, and expressed 
their opinions, that he did not die of the blow he received at 
Brentford : And whereas it appears to us, that neither of the 
said persons rvere produced as witnesses upon the trial, though 
ike said Holomon ^-tarling had been examined before the coro- 
ner ; and the only person called to prove that the death of the 
said George Clarke was occasioned by the said blow, ?vas John 
Foot, surgeon, who never saw the deceased till after his death : 
We thought, thereupon, to refer the said representations, toge- 
ther with the report of the recorder of our city of London, of 
the evidence given by Richard and WiUiam Beale and the said 
John Foot, on the trial of Edward Quirk, otherwise called Ed- 
ward Kirk, otherwise called Edward M-Quirk, for the mtirder 
of the said Clarke, to the master, wardens, and the rest of the 
court of examiners of the surgeons'' company , commanding them 
likewise to take such further examination of the said persons, 
so representing, and of said John Foot, as they might think ne- 
cessary, together with the premises above mentioned, inform 
end report to us their opinions, " Whether it did or did not ap- 
pear to t.'tem, that the said George Clarke dud in consequence 
of the blmv he received in the riot at Brentford on the Bth of 
December last.'''' And the said court of examiners of the sur- 
gemis'' company having thereupon reported to us their opinion, — 
♦' That it didnot appear to them that he did.''^ We have thought 
f roper to extend our royal mercy to him, the said Edward 
Quirk, otherwise Edward Kirk, otherwise called Edward 
M'Quirk, and to grant him our free pardon for the muderer of 
the said George Clarke, of which he has beenfomid guilty. Our 
will and pleasure, therefore, is, That he, iht said Edward 
Mrk, othcrrvisc called Edward M'Quirkj ie inserted, for the 



JUNIUS. 45 

liavc known, that the lot could not have fallen upon 
a more guilty object. What system of government 
is this? Vou are t:erpetually complaining of the riot- 
ous disposition of the lower class of people : yet, when 
the laws have given you the means of making an ex- 
ample in every sense unexceptionable, and by far the 
most likely to awe the multitude, you pardon the of- 
fence, and are not ashamed to give the sanction of 
government to the riots you complain of, and even 
to future murderers. Yon are partial, perhaps, to the 
military mode of execution ! and had rather see a 
score of these wretches butchered by the guards, than 
one of them suffer death by regr.Iar course of law. 
How does it happen, my lord, that in your hands, 
even the mercy of the prerogative is cruelty and op- 
pression to the subject p 

The measure, it seems, was so extraordinary, that 
you tl)Ouglit it necessary to give some reasons for it 
to the public. Let them be fairly examined. 

1. You s.iy, that Messrs. Broomficld and Starling 
rvcre 7iat examined at M''Quirk''s trial. I will tell your 
grace iv hy they were not. They must have been rx- 
amined upon oath; and it was foreseen, that their 
evidence would either not benefit, or might be preju- 
dicial to the prisoni^r. Otherwise, is it conceivable 
that his counsel should neglect to call in such material 
evidence? 

2. You say, tliat Mr. Foot did not see the deceased 
until after his death. A surgeon, my lord, mu>;t know 
Vfry little of his profession, if, upon examining a 
viound or a contusion, he cannot determine whether 
It was mortal or not. While the party is alive, a 
Furgeon will be cautious of pronouncing; whereas, 
by the death of the patient, he is enabled to consider 

said 1)1 urder, in our first and 7uxt Sicntral pardon that skalt 
eomt out for the poor convicts ofNtivgate, n-ilhout any con- 
dition nhatsotver; a:id fhat, in the mean time, you take 
ttail for his appearance, in order to plead our said pardon. 
\Jnd for so doi'igt'iis shaU be your warrant. 

Given at our covrt at it. James's, the tenth day cf March, 
ITG'J, in the ninth if car of our reign. 

B>/ His Mnjestfs command, ROCHFOR D. 

To our trust}) and well- bi'loved Jamtt Ejire, Esq. Recorder of 

our city of London, the Sheriff's of our said city and county 

of MiddUscx, and nil Oiliers whom it 7nay concern. 



46 JUNIUS. 

both cause and effect in one view, and to speak with 
a ceit:\inty confirmed by experience. 

3. Yet we ire to thank yoiir j'ace for the establish- 
ment of a nv-^w t ! ib;inal. Your inguisitio post mortem 
is unknown to the Jaws of England, and does honour 
to your invention. Tl'.e only material objection to it 
is!, that ir Mr, Foot's evidence was insufficieDt, because 
lie did not examine the wound till after the death of 
the party, much less can a negative opinion, given by 
gentlemen who never saw the body of Mr, Clarke, 
either before or after his decease, authorize you to 
supersede the verdict of a jury, and the sentence of 
the law. 

Now, my lord, let me ask you, Has it never occur- 
red to your grace, while you were withdrawing this^ 
desperate wretch fVom that justice which the laws had 
awarded, and \?lucli the whole people of England de- 
manded ag.ninst him, that there is another man, who 
is the favourite of his country, whose pardon would 
liave been accepted with gratitude, whose pardon 
v.'onld have healed all our divii^ions ? Have you 
quite forgotten that this man was once your grace's 
friend ? Or, is it to murderers only that you will 
extend the mercy of the crown p 

These are questions you will not answer, nor is it 
necessary. The character of your private life, and 
the uniform tenor of your public conduct, is au an- 
swer to them all. JUNIUS. 



LETTER IX. 

To Aw Grace the Duke of Grafton. 

MY LORD, April 10, 176*. 

I HAVE so good an opinion of your grace's discern- 
ment, that when the author of the vindication of your 
conduct assures us, that he writes from his own mere 
motion, without the least authority from your grace, 
1 should be ready enough to believe him, but for one 
fatal mark, which seems to be fixed upon every mea- 
sure in which either your personal or political cha- 
racter is concerned. Your first attempt to support 
Sir William Proctor ended in the election of Mr. 
Wilkes, the second insured succe.i?s to Mr. GlynUe 



JUNfUS. 47 

The extraortttnnry stop yon took to make Sir James 
l^owtljer lord paramovnt of Cmiib ilaiid, has mired 
liis interf'st in tliat county for ever. Tlie House List 
of Directors was cir^ed with llie conciirrence n" go- 
vernineiit; and even the miserable DingUy* could 
not escape tl»e misfortune of your grace's protection. 
With U>is uniform experience before iis, we are au- 
thorized to pugpect, that, when a prett^nded vindica- 
tion of your princi.sles and convhict, in reality, contains 
the bitterest reflections r.pon both, it could not have 
been written witliont your iinniedtxte direction and 
assistance. Tne author, indeed, calls God to witness 
for him, witli all t!ie sincerity, and in the very terms 
of an Iri^h evidence, to the best of his knmiedge and 
htlitf. My lord, you should not encourage tliese 
appeals to heaven. The pious prince from whom you 
are s\ipposed to dt-^cend, made such frequent use of 
them in his public declarations, that, at last, the 
people also found it necessary to appeal to heaven in 
their turn. Your administration has driven us into 
circumstances of equal distress: beware, at least, how 
you remind us of the remedy. 

You have already much to answer for. You have 
provoked this unlrappy gentleman to play the fool 
once more in public life, in spite of his years and in- 
firmitips; and to show >!s, tliat, as you yourself are a 
singiibr instance of youth without spirit, the man who 
delends you is a no less remarkable example of age 
without the benefit of experience. To follow such a 
•writer, minutely, would, like his own periods, be 
labour without end. The subject too has been alrea- 
dy discussed, and is sufficiently understood. I cannot 
help observing, however, that when the pardon of 
M'Quirk was the principal charge against you, it 
would have been but a decent compliment to your 
grace's understanding, to have defended you upon 
your own principles What credit does a man de- 
serve, who tells us plainly, that the facts set forth in 
the king's proclamation were not the true motives on 

* This unfortunate person had been persuaded by the 
Duke of Grafton to set up for Middlesex, bis gra;:e being 
determined to seat him in the Houseof Commons, if he had 
but a single vote. It happened, unluckily, that he could 
1 not prevail upoo aoy one freeholder to put him in nomina- 
tion. 



48 JUNIUS. 

which the pardon was granted ? And that he wishes 
that those chirurgical reports, which first gave occa-» 
sion to certain douhts in the royal breast, had not 
been laid before his majesty? Yoii see, my lord, that 
even your friends cannot defend your actions, without 
changing your principles; nor 'justify a deliberate 
measure of_ government, without contradicting the 
main assertion on whi«'h it was founded. 

The conviction of M'Quirk had reduced you to a 
dilemma in which it was hardly possible for you to 
reconcile your political interest with your duty. 
You were obliged either to abandon an active, useful 
partisan, or to protect a felon from pubiic justice. 
With your usual spirit, you preferred your interest 
to every other consideration; and, with your usual 
judgment, you founded your determination upon the 
only motives which should not have been given to the 
public. 

I have frpquently censured Mr. Wilkes's conduct, 
yet your advocate reproaches me with having devo- 
ted myself to the service of sedition. Your grace can 
best inform us for which of Mr. Wilkes's good quali- 
ties you first honoured him witli your fiiendsliip ; or 
how long it was before you discovered those bad ones 
in him, at which, it seems, your delicacy was offend- 
ed. Remcriiber, my Lord, that you continued your 
connexion with Mr. Wilkes, long after he had been 
convicted of those crimes, which you have since ta- 
ken pains to represent in the blackest coloiu's of blas- 
phemy and treason. How unlucky it is, that the first 
in.stance you have given us of a .scrupulous regard to 
decorum, is united with a breach of a moral obliga- 
tion ! For my ov/n part, my lord, I am proud to 
affirm, that if I had been weak enough to form such a 
friendship, I would never have been base enough to 
!)etray it. But let Mr. Vnikes's character be what it 
may, this, at least, is certain, that, circumstanced as 
he is, with regard to the public, even his vices plead 
for birn. The people of England have too much dii3- 
cernment to sufTei your grace to take advantage of 
the failings of a private character, to est-iblish a pre- 
cedent by which t'le public liberty is affected, antl 
which you may hereafter, with «;quHl ease and satis- ' 
faction, employ to the ruin of the best men in the 
Jiingdom. Contejit yourself, my lord, with the maa/".^ 



JUNIUS. 49 

advantages which tlie unsullied purity of your own 
character has given you over your unhappy, deserted 
friend. Avail yourself of all the unforgiving piety of 
the court you live in, and bless God that " you are 
not as other men are: extortioners, unjust, adulterers, 
or even as this publican." In a heart void of feeling, 
the laws of honour and good faith may be violated 
with im;)unity, and there you may safely indulge 
your genius. But the laws of England shall not be 
violated, even by your holy zeal to oppress a sinner ; 
and, though you have succeeded in making him a 
fool, vou shall not make him the victim of your am- 
bition. JUNIUS. 



LETTER X. 

To Mr. Edward Weston. 

SIR, April 21, 1769. 

J SAID you were an old man without the benefit of 
experience. It seems you are also a vohmteer, with 
the stipend of twenty commissions; and at a period 
when all prospects are at an end, you are still looking 
forward to rewards which you cannot enjoy. No man 
is better acquainted with the bounty of government 
than you are. 

Ton impudence^ 

Temeraire vieillard, aura sa recompense. 
^ But I will not descend to an altercation either with 
the impotence of your age, or the peevishness of your 
diseases. Your pamphlet, ingenious asit is, has been 
so little read, that the public cannot know how far 
you have a right to give me the lie, without the fol- 
lowing citation of your own words : 
_ Page 6th. " 1. That he is persuaded that the mo- 
tives which he (Mr. Weston) has alleged, must ap- 
pear fully sufficient, with or without the opinions of 
the surgeons. 

'* 2. That those very motives must have been the 
foundation on which the Earl of Rochford thought 
proper, kc 

" 3. That he canmt but regret, that the Earl of 
Rochford seems to bare thought proper to lay tbe 



50 JUINIITS. 

chiriirgical reports before the King, in preference to 
all the other siiffi' ietit motives," ac. 

Let the public deternnne whether this be defending 
government on their principles or your own. 

T.'ie style an;l language you have adopted arc, I 
confess, not ill suited to the elegance of your own 
manners, or to the dignity of the cause you have un- 
dertaken. Every common dauber ^vrites rascal and 
villain under hi" pictures, because the pictures th'^m- 
selves have neither character nor resemblance. But 
the works of a master require no index; his features 
and colouring are taken from nattne ; the impression 
they make is immediate and uniform : nor is it possi- 
ble to mistake his character, whether they represent 
the treachery of a Minister, or the abused simplicity 
©fa King. JUNIUS; 



LETTER XI. 

To his Grace ike Duke of Grafton. 

JUT lORD, April 24; 1769, 

The system yon seemed to have adopted when Lord 
Chatham unexpectedly left you at the head of affairs, 
gave us no promise of that uncommon exertion of 
vigour which has since illustrated your character, 
and distinguished your administration. Far from 
discovering a «pirit bold enough to invade the first 
rights of the people, and the (i' st principles of t\n^ con- 
stitution, you were scrupulous of exercising even those 
powers with wiiich the executive branch of the legis- 
lature is legally invested. We have not yet forgot^ 
ten how long Mr. Wilkes was suffered to appear at 
large, nor how long he was at liberty to canvass for 
the city and county, with all the terrors of an out- 
lawry hanging over him. Our gracious Sovereign 
has not yet forgotten the extraordinary care you took 
of his dignity, and of the safety of his person, M'hen^ 
at a crisis which courtiers affected to call alarming, 
yon left the metropolis exposed, for two niglits together, 
to every species of riot and disorder. The security 
of the royal residence from insult was then sufficient- 
}y providedi for in Mr, Conway's firmnessj and Lord 



JUNIUS. 5T 

: Weymouth's discretion ; while the Prime Minister of 
Greit Britain, in a rural retiic^ment, and in the arms 
; of faded beauty, had lost ail memory of hi>s Sovereign, 
his country, and himself. In these instances you 
I might have acted with vigour, for you would have 
: had the sanction of the laws to support you. The 
•friends of government might have defended you with- 
lout shame ; and moderate men, who wish well to the 
■ peace and good order of society, might have had a 
preteiice for applauding your conduct. But these, it 
iseems, were not occasions worthy ofyour Grace's in- 
iterposition. You reserved the proofs o£ your intre- 
pid spirit for trials of greater hazard and importance j 
:and now, as if the most disgraceful relaxation of the 
executive authority had givi-n you a claim of credit 
to indulge in excesses still more dangerous, you seem 
determined to compensate amply for your former neg- 
ligence, and to balance the non-execution of the lav/s 
with a breach of the constitution. From one extreme 
you suddenly start to tlie other, without leaving, be- 
tween the weakness and the fury of the passions, one 
moment's interval for the firmness of^he understand- 
ing.^ 

These observations, general as they are, raight 
[easily be extended into a faithful history of youf 
•Grace's administration, and perhaps may betheem- 
iployment of a future hour. But the business of the 
ipresent mom; nt will not suffer me to look back to a 
iseries of events which cease to be interesting or im- 
;portant, because they are succeeded by a measure so 
•singularly daring, that it excites all our attention, 
:and engrosses all our resentment. 
• Your patronage of Mr. Luttreil has been crowned 
■with success. AVith this precedent before you, with 
the principles on which it was established, and with a 
•ftjture House of Commons, perhaps less virtuous than 
•the piesent, every county in England, under the au- 
spices of the treasury, may be represented as com- 
pletely as the county of Middlesex. Posterity will 
be indebted to yoiir Grace for not contenting yourself 
,with a temporary expedient, but entailing upon them 
the immediate Weiungs of your administration. 
■Boroughs were a^ady too much at the mercy of 
government. Counties could neither be purchased 

nor iatiiuidatedi But their goleom deterioufl^d elcc- 



52 JUNIUS. 

tion may be rejected ; and the man they detest i 
be appointed hv another choice to represent thei 
Parliament. Yet it is admitted, that the She 
obeyed the laws, and performed their duty.* Th< 
turn they made must have been legal and valid, 
undoubtedly they would have been censured for n 
ing it. With every good natiired allowance for y 
Grace's youth and inexperience, there are s( 
things which you cannot but know. Yon cannot 
know, that the right of tlie freeholders to adhen 
their choice (even supposing it improperly exerl 
was as clear and indisputable as that of the Housi 
Commons to exclude one of their own members. 1 
is it possible for you not to see the wide dista 
there is between the negative power of rejecting < 
man, and the positive power of appointing anott 
The right of expulsion, in the most favourable ser 
is no more tl)an the custom of Parliament. Tlie tU 
of election is the very essence of the constitution, 
violate that right, and much more to transfer it 
any other set of men, is a stepleading imraedi^tely 
the dissolution of all governmpnt. So far forth ai 
operates, it constitutes a House of Commons wh; 
does not represent the people. A Hous? of Comm( 
so formed would involve a contradiction, and t 
grossest confusion of ideas ; but there are some Mi 
sters, my Lord, whose views can only^ he answff 
by reconciling absurdities, and making the sai 
proposition, which is false and absurd in argumei 
true in fact. 

This measure, my Lord, is, however, attended wi 
one consequence favourable to the people, whicl 
am persuaded you did not foresee. f While the co 
test lay between the Ministry and Mr. Wilkes, I 
situation and private character gave you advantag 
over him, which common candour, if not the memo) 
of your former friendship, should have forbidden yi 
to make use of. To religious men, yon had an o 
portuuity of exaggerating the irregularities of li 
past life ; to moderate men, you held forth the pern 

* Sir Fletcher Norton, when it jras proposed topuni- 
the SheritTs, declared to the Hoiis€»ft|ominon.s, tliat the. 
in returning Mr. Wilkes, had done'no more than their dut; 

t The reader is d«sir«d to mark this proph«cy. 



JUNIUS. 5S 

:OBSequeRces of faction. Men, who, with this 
ctor, looked no ftrther than to the object before 
, were not dissatisfied at seeing Mr. Wilkes ex- 
-fl from Parliament. Voii have now taken care 
t the question ; or, rather, yoi^ave created a 
ne, in which Mr. Wilkes is nolnore concerned 
my other Eno;]ish gentleman, ^u have unit- 
i country against yon on one grand constitution- 
it, on tlie decision of which our existence, as a 
!0plp, absolutely depends. You have asserted, 
words, but in fact, that the representation in 
ment does not depend upon the choice of the 
Idcrs. If such a case can possibly happen once, 
• happen frequent ly: it may happen always: 
three hundred vote«, hy any mode of reasoning 
ver, can prevail against twelve hundred, the 
reasoning -would equally have given Mr, Lut- 
is seat with ten votes, or even with one. The 
ut-ncesof this attack upon tiie constitution are 
lin ,nd palpable not to alarm the dullest appre- 
a. I trust you will find that the people of Eng- 
re neither deficient in spiritnor understanding; 
I you have treated them as if tliey had neither' 

feel, nor spirit to resent. We have reaeon to 
God, and our ancestors, that there never yet 
Minister in this country who could stand the 
fsuch a conflict; and, with every prejudice in 

of your intentions, I see no such aibiiities in 
trace, as should enable you to succeed in an 

i-e, in which the ablest and basest of your pre- 
irs have found their destruction. You may 
je to deceive your gracious master with false 
•ntations of the temper and condition of his 
g. You may command a venal vote, because 

■ common established appendage of your office. 

IT hope that the freeholders will make a tame 

• r of their rights; or, that an English army 
ii with you in overturning the liberties of their 

•. They know, -that tlieir first duty, as clti- 
paramount to all subsequent engagements : 

1 they prefer the discipline, or even the ho- 
of their profession, to those sacred original 
vhich belonged to them before they were sol- 
nd which they claim and possess as the birth- 
Englishmen. 



^4 JUNIUS. 

Return, my Lord, before it be,too]ate, to that easjr, 
ins pid .system which you first set out with. Take 
back your mistress.* The name of friend may be fa- 
tal to her, for it leads to treachery and persecution. 
Indulge ihepeqiyie. Attend IN ew market. Mr. JLut- 
trell may ag^ vacate his seat; and Mr. Wilkes, if 
not persecuted, will soon be forgotten. To be weak 
and inactive, is saft^r than to be daring and criminal; 
and wide is the distance between a riot of the popu- 
lace and a convulsion of the whole kingdom. You 
may live to make the exp'^rirnent, but no honest man 
can wi-b you should survive it. JUNIUS. 



LETTER X5I. 

To his Grace the Duke of Grafton. 

m LORD, May 30, 1769,. 

If the measures in which you have been most sue-, 
ee-jsful had been supported by any tolerable appear- 
ance of argument, I should have thought my time not 
ill employed in continuing to examine your conduct 
as a Minister, and stating it fairly to the public. Buts 
when I see questions of the highest national impor- 
tance carried as they have been, and the first pnnci-j 
pies of the constitution opealy violated, without argu-^ 
inent or decency, I confess i give up the cause in de-J 
epair. The meanest of your predecessors had aD»'»"e% 
sufficientto give a colour to their measures. It they? 
invaded the rights of the people, they did not dare to 
ofFe'- a direct insult to their understanding; and, in 
former times, the most venal Parliaments made it £ 
condition in their bargain with the Mlul^ter, that ht 
should furnish them with some plausible pretences toi 
sellino- tlieir country and themselves. \ ou have hac 
the n^erit of introducing a more compendious systen 
of government and logic. You neither address your 
«elf to the passions, nor to the understanding, butsim 

* The Duke, about this time, had separated himself frcw 
Anne Parsons; but proposed to continue^ united with he 
en bouie Platonic terms of friendship, ^vhich she rejeetes 
Tvith contempt. His baseless to ttis Tfoman IS beyond.® 
•ferii'tioas or belief, 



JUNIUS. 55 

ply to the touch. Yoii apply yourself immediately to 
thr feelings of your friends; who, contrary to the 
forms of Parliament, never enter heartily into a de- 
bate until thi^y have divided. 

Relinquishioff, therefore, ail idle views of amend' 
nient to yo.ir Grace, or of benefit to the public, let me 
be permitted to consider your character and conduct, 
merely '^s a subject of ci.rious speculation. There is 
something in both which distinguishes you, not only 
fiom •ill other Ministers, but ali'other men. It is not 
that you do wrong by design, but that you should 
never do ri^jht by mistake. It is not thit your indo- 
lence and your activity haveheen equally misapplied, 
but t rat the first uniform [irinciple, or, if 1 may call 
it, the g^■nias of 3'our life, should have carried you 
tiirt)ugh every possible change and contradiction of 
conduct, without the momentiry imputation or colour 
of a virtue; and that the wildest spirit of inconsisten- 
cy should never have once betrayed you into a wise 
or honourable action. Thi^-, I own, gives an lir of 
sin>iularity to your fortune, as well as to your disposi- 
tion. Let us look back, together, to a scene, in which 
a mind like yours will find nottiing to repent ol. Let 
us try, my Lord, how well you have supported the 
various relations in which yo.; stoo<l to your sove- 
reign, your country, your friends, and yourself. 
Give us, if it be p->ssible, some excuse to posterity, 
jind to ourselves, for submitting to your adnjinistra- 
tioii. If not the abilities of a great Mini.^er, if not 
the integrity of a p-^tri.it, or the fidelity of a friend, 
ehow lis, at least, !he Brmnessof a man. For the sake 
of your mistress, the lover shall be spared. I «ill not 
lead her into public as you have done; nor will ( in- 
BuU the memory of de^iarted beauty. Her sex, which 
'alone made her iraiable in your eyes, makes her re- 
' Bijectable in mine 

■ ' Thech'iracter of the reputed ancestors ofsorae men, 
' has made it possible for their descendants to be vicious 
' "in the extreme, without bemg degenerate. Those of 
^your Grace, for instance, left nodi-tressing examples 
of virtue evi^n to their legitim -te posterity : and you 
'may look back with pleasure to an illustrious pedi- 
^grce, in whicb le.Taldry has not left i single good 
J;qiHlity upon record to insult or U' braid you. You 
Dave better proofs of 7our descent, my. Lord, than Ux$ 



m. JUNIUS. 

register of a marriage, or any tronnlesomc inlierltan 
of reputation. There are some hereditary strokes ^ 
character, by which a family may be as clearly d' 
tinguished, as by the blackest features of the humi 
face. Charles the First lived and died a hypocrit 
Charles the Second was a hypocrite of another so; 
and should have died upon the same scaffold. At t 
distance of a century, we see their different charactf 
happily revived and blended in your Grace. SuU 
and severe, without religion, profligate without ga 
ty, you live like Charles the Second, without bei 
an amiable companion ; and, for aught I know, m 
die as his father did, without the reputation of a m 
tjr. 

You had already taken your degrees with credit, 
those schools in which the English nobility are foi 
ed to virtue, when you were introduced to Lord Ch 
ham's protection.* From New-market, White's,? 
the opposition, he gave you to the world with ao 
of popularity, which young men usually set out w 
and seldom preserve: grave and plausible enougl 
be thought fit for business ; too young for treache 
and, in short, a patriot of no unpromising expei 
tions. Lord Chatham was the earliest object of y 
political wonder and attachment; yet you deser 
him, upon the first liopes that offeied of an unec 
share of power with Lord Rockingham. When 
late Duke of Cumberland's first negotiation fai 
and when the favourite was pushed to the last 
tremity, you saved him, by joining with an adra 
tration, in which Lord Chatham had refused tc 
gage. Still, however, he was your friend : and 
are yet to explain to the world, why you conse; 
to act without him ; or why, after uniting with I 
Rockingham, you deserted and betrayed him. 
complained, that no measures^ were taken to sa 
your patron ; and that your friend, Mr. Wilkes, 
had suffered so much for the party, had been a 
donfd to his fate. They hTve since contributed 
a little, to your present plenitude of power; y 
think, Lord Chatham has less reason than ever* 
satisfied : and as fo.r Mr. Wilkes, it is, perhaps 

* To understand these passasies, the reader is referi 
asoteU patnjphlit, called, thf. Shtory of the Minoritif., 



JUNIUS. 51 

g; eatest misfortune of his life, that you should have 
so ninny compensations to make in the closet for your 
former friendship with him. Your gracious master 
understands your character, and makes you a perse- 
cutor hecause you have been a friend. 

Lord Chatliam formed his last administration upon 
principles wtiich you certainly concuired in, or you 
could never have been placed^at the head of the trea- 
sury. By desortina: those principles, and by acting 
in direct contradiction to them, in which he found 
you were secretly supported in tlie closet, ycuj soon 
forced him to le^ve you to yourself, and to wiftidraw 
his name from an adminij^tralion which had been 
formed on the credit of it. You had then a prospect 
of friendships better suited to your genius, and more 
likely to tix your disposition. Marriage is the point 
on which every rike is stationary at last; and truly, 
my Lord, ynu may well be weiry of tiie circuit you 
have taken; for you have now fairly travelled through 
every sign in the political zodiac, from the scorpion, 
in wliich you stung Lord Chatham, to the hopes of a 
virgin* in the house of Bloomsbiiry. One would think 
tliat you had sufTicient i-xperience of the frailty of 
nuptial engagements, or, at least, that such a fri'^nd- 
sbip, astlie Duke ot Bedford's, might have b^en secur- 
ed to you by the auspicious marriage of your late 
Duchessf with his nephew. But ties of this tf nder na- 
ture cannot be drawn too clost^ ; and it may possibly 
be a part of the Duke of Bedford's ambition, after 
making her an honest woman, to work a miracle of 
the same sort upon your Grace. This worthy nobleman 
has long dealt in virtue; there has been a large con- 
sumption of it in his own family; and, in the way of 
trafRck, I dare say he has bought and sold more than 
half the representative integrity of the nation. 

In a political view, tliis union Is not imprudent. 
The favour of princes is a perishable cominodity. 
You have now a strength sufficient to command t!ie 
closet, and if it be necessary to betray one friendship 
more, you may set even Lord Bute at defiance. Mr, 

* His Grace had lately mairied Misa Wrottesly, niece of 
the good Gertrvde, Duchess of Bedford. 

t Mias Lifjdel, after ber divorce from the Duke, marriqd 
hord l/pper Owory. 



tiH JUNIUS. 

Stewart M'Kenzie may possibly remember wliat we 
the Duke of Bedford usually makes of his power; and 
our gracious Sovereign, 1 doubt not, rejoices at this 
first appearance of union among his servants. His 
late JVLijesty, under the happy influence of a family 
connexion between his ministers, was relieved from the 
cares of the government. A more active prince may, 
perhaps, observe with suspicion, by what degrees an 
artlul servant grows upon his master, from the first 
unlimited professions of duty and attachment, to the 
painful representation of the necessity of the royal 
scrviof , and soon, in regular progression, to the humble 
insolency of dictating in all the obsequious forms of 
peremptory submission. The interval is carefully 
employed in forming connexions, creating interest, 
collecting a party, and laying the foundalion of double 
marriages ; until the deluded prince, who thought he 
had found a creature prostituted to his service, and in- 
significant enough to be always dependant upon his 
pleasure, finds liim, at last, too strong to be command- 
ed, and too formidable to be removed, 

Your Grace's pul)]ic conduct, as a Minister, is but 
the counterpart of your pi ivate history ; the same 
inconsistency, the same contradictions. In America 
we trace you, from the first opposition to the stamp 
acton principles of convenience, to Mr Pitt'ssurren- 
der of the right; then forward to Lord Rockingham's 
surrender of tlie fact; then back again to Lord Rock- 
ingham's declaration of the right; then forward to 
taxation with Mr. Townshend ; and, in the last in- 
stance, from the gentle Conway's undetermined dis- 
cretion, to blood and compulsion with the Duke of 
Bedford; yet, if we may believe tlie simplicity of 
Lord Nortli's eloquence, at the opening of tlie next 
session, you are once more to be the patron of America. 
Is this the wi>dom of a great Minister , or is it the 
ominous vibration of a pendulum; had you no opinion 
of your own, my Lordp Or was it the gratification of 
betraying every party with which you have been 
miited, and of deserting every political principle in 
which you had concurred? 

Your enemies may turn their eyes without regret 
from this admirable system of provincial government. 
They will find gratification enough in the survey ©f 
your domestic and foreign policy. 



JUNItJS. 59 

If, instead of disowning Loid Shelhirne, the British 
court had interposed with dignity and firmness, yoa 
know, my Lord, thai Coisica would never liavebeea 
Invaded. The French saw tlie weakness o* a dia« 
Iracted ministry, and were justified in treating you 
with contempt. They would probably have yielded, 
in the first instance, rather than hazard a uipture 
■with this country; but, being; once engaged, the7 
cannot retreat without dishonour. Common sense fore- 
sees consequences wliich have escaped your Grace's 
penetration. Either we suffer the French to make 
an acquisition, the importance of which yon iiave 
probibly no conception of, or we oppose them by an 
underhand management, which only di-^graces us in 
the eyes of Europe, without answering any purpose 
of poUcy or prudence. From secret, indirect as- 
sistance, a transition to some more open, decisive 
measures, becomes unavoidable; till, at last, we find 
ourselves principal in the war, and are obliged to 
Iia^ard every thing for an object which might have 
originally been obtained wilhout exjiense or danger. 
1 am not versed in the pohtics of the north ; but this, ' 
I believe, is certain, that half the mnney you have 
distributed to carry the expulsion of Mr. Wilkes, or 
even your secretary's share in the last subscription, 
would have kept the Turks at your devotion. Was 
iteconomy, my Lordp Or, did the coy resistance you 
have constantly met wjtli in tlie British senate, make 
j'ou despair of corrupting the divan P Your friends, 
itideed, have the first claim upon your bounty :J)ut if 
500l. a year can be spared in pension to Sir Joha 
Moore, it would not have disgraced yon to have al- 
lowed something to the secret service of the public. 
You will say, perhaps, that the situation of affairs 
at home demanded and engrossed the whole of your 
attention. Here, I confess, you have been active. 
An amiable, accomplished p; ince, ascends the throne 
under the happiest of all auspices, the aeclamationi 
and united affections of his subjects. The first mea- 
sures of his reign, and even the odium of a fevourite, 
were not able to sh.ike tiieir attachment. Fowr ser- 
vices, my Lord, have been more successful. Since 
you were permitted to take the lead, we have seen 
the natural effects of a system of government at once 
both odious and centemptible. We have seen the 



m JUNIUS. 

laws sometimes scandalously relaxed, sometimes vio- 
lently stretched, beyond their tone. We have seen 
the person of the Sovereign insulted ', and, in pro- 
found peace, and with an undisputed title, the fidelity 
of his subjects! brought by liis ow^n servants into pub- 
lic question.* Without abilities, resolution, or inte- 
rest, you have done more tlian Lord Bute could ac- 
i:omplish, with all Scotland at his heels. 

Your Grace, little anxious, perhaps, either for pre- 
sent or future reputation, will not desire to be handed 
down in these colours to posterity. You have reason 
to flatter yourself, that the memory of your adminis- 
tration will survive even the forms of a constitution, 
which our ancestors vainly hoped would be immortal ; 
and, as for your personal character, I will not, for the 
honour of human nature, suppose that you can wish 
to have it remembered The condition of the present 
times is desperate indeed; but there is a debt due to 
those who come after us ; and it is the historian's of- 
fice to puni^li, though he cannot correct. 1 do not 
give you to posterity, as a pattern to imitate, but as 
an example to deter; and as your conduct compre- 
liends every thing that a wise or honest Minister 
should avoid, I mean to make you a negative ifl- 
struction to your suteessors lor ever. JUJNIUS. 



LETTER XI U. 

Addressed to the Printer of the Public Advertiser. 

■ii.H, June 12, 1769. 

The Dulce of Grafton's friends not findina; it convex 
iiieut to enter into a content witii ./Mmiis,'are now 
reduced to tl)e last melancholy resource of defeated 
argument, the flat general charge of srunvility and 
falsehood. As for his style, I shall leave it to tlie 
critics. The truth of his facts is of more importance 

* The wise Duke aliout this time exerter] all the influence 
of government to procure addresses to satisfy the Kin,2 of 
the fidelity of his subjects They came in very thick from 
Scotland: hut after tijc appeaiancc of this letter, vc heard 
si» tHore of theiB, 



jT?rfius. cr 

to the public. They areof such a naturethat I think 
a hnre contnilirtion will have no weight with yny 
mi') w',:oj dg. ;< .or hitnself. Let us take them in the 
ordf-r in whicii they anpear io his last letter 

1. H ivf not thp first riglits o* the people, and the 
first (.iiiin.'i:,lps o! the constitution, been openly inva- 
ded, tin^the very name of an election made ridicu- 
lous, by the irhitrary api-'ointment of Mr. Luttrell? 

2. Uid nni the Duke of Gralton frequently lead his 
mistiess*into puhlic, and even place her at the head 
of his table, as i* he liad pulled down an ancient 
tem()le oi ieniis, and could bury all decency and 
shame nndcr the ruins p Is this the man who dares to 
talk oi" 'vlr. Wilkes's morals. 

3. Is not the character of his presumptive ancestors 
as strongly marked in him, as if he had descended from 
them in a direct legitimate line ? The idea of his death 
is only prophetic ; and what is prophecy but a narra- 
tive preceding the factp 

4. Was not Lord Chatham the first who raised hiin ■ 
to tlie rank and post of a Minister, and the first whom 
he abandoned ? 

5. Did he not join with Lord Rockingham, and 
betray liim? 

6. Wps he not the bosom friend of Mr. Wilkes, 
■wh.)m he now pursues to destruction i' 

7. Did he not take his degree,? with credit at New- 
market, White'-*, and the opposition ? 

8. After deserting Lord Chatham's principles, and 
eairiticing his frif ndship, is he not now closely united 
with a set of men, who, though they have occasional- 
ly joined with all parties, have, in every different 
fiiruition, and at all times, been equally and con- 
stantly dete.^ted by this country p 

9. Has not Sii John Moore a pension of five hun-- 
dred pounds a yearp This may probably be an ac-' 
quittance of favonr upon thf» turf; but is it possible ■ 
for a Minister to offer a grosser outrage to a nation, 
•which has so very Uitely cleired away the begg.iry 
of the civil list, at the expense of moie than half a* 
million p 

10. Is there any one mode of thinking or aclingjS 
with respect to America, wl>ich the Duke of Grafton i 
has not successively adopted an;l abaiulonedp 

1 1. l8 there not a singular mark of giiauae let Pi^oa ' 

€ 2 



JUNIUS, 

this man, who has so little delicacy and feeling, as to 
submit to the opprobrium of marrying a near relation 
of one who had debauched his wife !* In the name of 
decency, how are these amiable cousins to meet at 
their uncle's table p It will be a scene in CEdipus, 
■without the distress. Is it wealth, or \Vit, or beauty P 
Or, is the amorous youth in lovep ^ 

The rest is notorious. That Corsica has been 
sacrificed to tlie French ; that, in some instances, 
the laws have been scandalously relaxed, >and, in 
others, daringly violated; and that the King's sub- 
jects have been called upon to assure him of their 
fidelity, in spite of the measures of his servants. 

A writer who builds his arguments upon facts such 
as these, is not easily to be confuted. He is not to be 
answered by general assertions, or general reproaches. 
He may want eloquence to amuse and persuade j but, 
speaking truth, he must always convince. 

PHILO JUNIUS. 



LETTER XIV, 

Addressed to the Printer of the Public Jdmrtiser. 

*IB, Ji:ne 22,1769. 

The name of Old Noll is destined to be the ruin of 
the house of Stuart There is an ominous fatality in 
it, which even the spurious descendants oltiie family 
cannot escape. Oliver Cromwell had the merit of 
conducting; Charles the First to the block. Your 
correspondent, Old Noll, appears to have the same 
design upon the Duke of Grafton, His arguments 
consist better with the title he has assumed, than 
iTvith the priuciples he professes: for thougli he pre- 
tends to be an advocate for the Duke, he takes care 
to y ive us the best reason why his patron should re- 
j:ularly follow the fate of his presumi'tive ancestor. 
Through the whole course of the Duke of Grafton's 
life, I see a strange endeavour to unite contradictions 
which cannot be reconciled. He marries, to be di- 
vorced ; he keeps a mistress, to remind him of conju- 
gal endearments; and he chooses such friends as it is 
», virtue in him to desert. If it were possi))le for the 



auNius. es 

genius of tliat accomplished president, who pronoun- 
ced sentence upou Charles the First, to be revived ia 
some modern sycophant,* his (jiace, I doubt not, 
would by sympathy discover him among the dregs of" 
mankind, and take him for a guide in those paths 
which naturally conduct a Minister to the scaffold. 

The assertion, tlmttwo-thirdsoftlie nation approve 
of the acceptance of Mr. Luttrel (for even Old Noll is 
too modest to call it an election) can neither be main- 
tained nor confuted by argument. It is a point of 
fact, on which every Enjilish gentleman will deter- 
mine for himself. As to lawyers, their profession ia 
supported by the indiscriminate defence of right and 
wrong; and I confess I have not that opinion oi their 
knowledge or integrity, to think it necessary that 
they should decide for me upon a plain constitutional 
question. With respect to the appointment of Mr. 
Luttrell, the Chancellor hiis never yet given any 
autluntic opinion. Sir Fletcher Norton is^, indeed, 
an honest, a very honest man ; and the Attorney- 
General is ex officio the guardian of liberty; to take 
care, I pre^^ume, that it shall never break out into a 
criminal excess. Dr. Blackstone is Solicitor to the 
Queen. The Doctor recollected that he had a place 
to preserve, though he forgot that he had a reputation 
to lose. We have now the good fortune to understand 
the Doctor's principles as well as writings. For the 
defence of truth, of law, and reason, the Doctor's 
books may be safely consulted; but whoever wishes 
to cheat a neighbour of his estate, or to rob a country 
of its right.^, need make no scruple of consulting the 
Do( tor iiimself. 

The eximpie of the English nobility may, for aught 
I know, suffirieutly justify the Dukeof Giafton, when 
he indulges his genius in ail the fashionab'e excesses 
of the age; yet, considering his rank and station, I 
think it would do him more honour to be able to den; 
the fact, than to defend it by such authority. But il 
vice itself could be exiiu ed, there is yet a certain 
display of it, a certain outrage to decency, and vio- 
lation of public decorum, which, for the benefit of 
Bociety, should never be forgiven. It is not that he 
-* 

* It k hardly fisoegiftfy td t%mM \^Q rtftder«'f tbfl m». , 
9f ^r&ttihm. 



«4 JUNIUS. 

kept a mistress at home, but that he constantly at- 
tended her abroad. It is not the private indulgence, 
but the [)ublic insult, of which ! complain The name 
of Mifis Pareons would hardly have hppn known, ifthc 
First Lord of the Treasury had not led her in triumph 
through the Opera House, even in the presence of the 
Queen. H'heu we fee a man act in thi? manner, we 
may admit the shanielpss depravity of his heart; but 
what are we to think of his underst tndinffp 

His Grace, it seems, is now to l)e a regular, domes- 
tic man ; and, as an omen of the future delicacy and 
correctness of his conduct, he marries a tirst cousin of 
the man who had fixpd that mark and title of infamy 
upon him, whicli, at the same moment, makes a bus- 
band unhappy and ridiculous. The ties of consan- 
guinity may possibly preserve him from the same fate 
a second time; and, as to the distress of meeting, i 
take for ia;ranted, the venerable uncle of these com- 
mon cousins has settU^d the etiquette in such a man- 
ner, that, if a mistak;^ should happen, it may reach 
no further than from Madame mafemme to Madame 
ma CQunne. 

The Duke of Grafton has alwaj's some excellent 
reason for deserting his friends. The age and inca- 
pacity of Lord Chatham, the debility of I^ord Rock- 
ingham, or the infancy of Mr. Wilkes There was a 
time, indeed, when he did not appear to be quite so 
well acquainted, or so violently offended, with the 
infirmities of his friends. But now I confess they are 
not ill exchanged for the youthful, vigorous virtue of 
the Duke of Bedford; the firmness of General Con- 
way ; the blunt, or, if I may call it, the awkward in- 
tegrity of Mr. Rigby; and the spotless morality of 
Lord Sandwich.^ 

If a late pension to a* broken gambler be an act 
"worthy of commendation, the Duke of Grafton's con- 
nexions will furnish him with many opportunities of 
doing praise-worthy actions; and as he himself bears 
no part of the expense, the generosity of distributing 
the public money for the support of virtuous families 
io distress, will be an unquestionable proof of his 
Grace's humanity. 

As to public affairs, Old Noll is a little tender o^ 

* Sir John Meore. 



JUNIUS. 65 

descCTiding to particulars. He does not deny that 
Corsica has been sacrificed to France; and he con- 
fesses that, with regard to America, his patron's 
me^isiires have been subject to some variation: but 
then he promises wonders of stability and firmness for 
the future. These are myj^teries, of which we must 
not pretend to judge by ex'jerieuce; and, truly, I fear 
we sliali perish in iha deseit, before we arrive at the 
land of promise. In the regular course of things, the 
period of the Duke of Grafton's ministerial manhood 
should now be approaching. The imbecility of his 
infant state was committed to Lord Chatham. Charles 
Townshend took some care of his education at that 
ambiguous age, which lies between the follies of poli- 
tical childhood, and the vices of puberty. The em- 
pire of the passions soon succeeded. His -arliest 
principles and connexions were of course forgotten or 
despised. The company he has lately kept has been 
of no service to his morals; and, in the conduct of 
public affairs, we see the character of his lime of life 
strongly distinguisl)ed Aii obstinate, ungovernable 
self-sufRci«'ncy plainly points out to us that state of 
imperfect maturity, at which the graceful levity of 
youth is lost, and the solidity of experience not yet 
acquired. It is possible the yoimg man may, in time, 
grow wiser, and reform: but if I under«tand his dis- 
position, it is not of such corrigible stuffthat we should 
hope for any amendment in him, before he has ac- 
complished the destruction of this country. Like 
other rakes, he may, perhaps, live to see his error, 
but not until he has ruined his estate. 

PHILO JUNIUS. 



LETTER XV. 

To his Grace the Duke of Grecian. 

MTLORD, July 8, 1769. 

If nature had given ynn an understanding qualified 
to keep pace with the wishes and principles of your 
heart, she would have made you, perhaps, the most 
formidable Minister that ever was employed under a 
limited monarch, to accomplish tlie ruin of a free 



66 JUNIUS. 

people. When neither the feelings of shame, the re- 
proaches of conscience, nor the dread of punish tneut, 
form any bar to the designs of a Minister, the people 
would h )ve too much reason to lament their condi- 
tion, if they did not find some resource in the weak- 
ness of his understanding. We owe it to the bounty 
of Providence, tiiat the completest depravity of the 
heart is sometimes strangely united with a confusioa 
of the mind, which counteracts the most favourite 
principles, and makes the same man treacherous 
without art, and a hypocrite without deceiving. 
The measures, for instance, in which your Grace's 
activity has been chiefly exerted, as they were 
adopted without skill, should have been conducted 
with more than common dexterity. But truly, my 
Lord, the execution has been as gross as the design. 
By one decisive step you have defeated all the arts of 
writing. You have fairly confounded the intrigues 
of opposition, and silenced the clamours of faction. 
A dark, ambiguous system, might require and furnisli 
the materials of ingenious illustration; and, in doubt- 
ful measures, the virulent exaggeration of party must 
be employed to rouse and engige the passions of the 
people. You have now brought the merits of your 
admiui.«tration to an issue, on wliich every English- 
man, of the narrowest capacity, may determine for 
himself, it is not an alarm to the passion?, but a 
calm appeal to the judgment of the people, upon 
their own most essential interests. A more experien- 
ced minister would not have hazarded a direct inva- 
sion of the first principles of the constitution, before 
he had made some progress in subduing the spirit of 
the people. With such a cause as yours, my Lord, it 
is not sufficientthat you have the court at your devo- 
tion, unless you can find means to corrupt, or intimi- 
date the juiy. The collective body of the people form 
that jury, and from their decision there is but one ap- 
peal. 

Whether 3'oa have talents to support you, at a crisis 
of sucii difficulty and danger, should long since liave 
heen considered. Judging truly of your disposition, 
you have, perhaps, mistaken tlie extent of your capa- 
city. Good faith and folly have so long been receiv- 
ed as synonymous terms, that the reverse of tlse pro- 
positluii ha» grown iato cretlit, uiU every viliaia 



JUNIUS. 67 

fancies himself a man of abilities. It is the apprehen- 
sion of your friends, my Lord, that yon have drawn 
some hasty conclusion of this sort, and that a partial 
reliance upon your moral character has betrayed you 
beyond the depth of your understanding. You have 
now carried things too far to retreat. You have 
plainly declared to the people, what they are to ex- 
pect from the continuance of your administration. 
It is time for your Grace to consider what you also 
may expect in return from their spirit and their re- 
sentment. 

Since the accession of our most gracious Sovereign 
to the throne, we have seen a system of government 
Avhich may well be called a reign of experiments. 
Parties of all denominations have been employed and 
dismissed. The advice of the ablest men in this coun- 
try has been repeatedly called for, and rejected; and 
when the royal displeasure has been signified to a 
Minister, the marks of it have usually been propor- 
tioned to his abilities and integrity. The spirit of the 
Javourite had some apparent influence upon every ad- 
ministration; and every set of Ministers preserved aa 
appearance of duration as long as they submitted to 
that influence. But there were certain services to be 
performed for the favourite's security, or to gratiiy his 
resentments, which your predecessors in office had the 
wisdom or the virtue not to undertake. The moment 
this refractory spirit was discovered, their disgrace 
was determined. Lord Chatham, Mr. Grenville, and 
Lord Rockingham, have successively had the honour 
to be dismissed for preferring their dnty as servants of 
the publif, to those compliances which were expected 
from their station. A submissive administration was 
at last gradually collected from the deserters of all 
parties, interests, and connexions: and nothing re- 
mained but to find a leader for these gallant, well- 
di'ci, .lined troops. Staud forth, my Lord; for thou 
art the man. Lord Bute foimd no resource of depen- 
dence or security in the proud, imposing superiority 
of Lord Chatham's abilities; the shrewd, inflexible 
judgment of Mr. Grenville; nor in the mild, but de- 
termined integrity of Lord Rockingham His views 
and situation required a creature void of all these 
properties: and he was forced to go through every 
division, resolution, composition, and refinement of 



68 JUNIUS. 

political chemistry, before he happily arrived at the 
caput nioriuum of vitriol in your Grace. Flat and 
insipid in your retired state; but brought into action, 
you become vitriol again. Such are the extremes of 
alternate indolence or fury, which have govtrned 
your whole a'^ministration. Your circumstances, with 
regard to the people, soon becoming desperate, like 
other honest servants, you determined to involve the 
best of master?; in the same difficulties with yourself. 
We owe it to your Grace's well directed labours, that 
your Sovereign lins been pergi;aded to doubt of the 
affections of his subjects, and tiie people to suspect the " 
virtues of their Sovereign, at a time when both were 
unquestionable. You tiave degraded the royal dig- 
nity into a base and dishonourable competition with 
Mr. Wilkes: nor had you abilities to carry even the 
last contemptible triumph over a piivate man, with- 
out the grossest violation of the fundameotai 1 iws of 
the constitution and rights of the people. But tiiese 
are riglits, my Lord, which you can no more annihi- 
late, than you can the soil to which they are annexed. 
The question no longer turns upon points of national 
honour and security abroad, or on the degrees of ex- 
pedience and propriety of measures at home. It was 
not inconsistent that yon should abandon the cause of 
libt rty, in another country, which you had persecuted 
in your own: and, in the common arts of domestic 
corruption, we mi^s no part of Sir Robert Walpole's 
system, except liis abilities. In this hmnble, imit itive 
line, you might long have proceeded safe and lon- 
teinptible. Yo(j might probably never have risen to 
the diiinity of being hnted, and even have been des- 
pised with mod';tatiou. But it seems you meant to 
be distinguished; and, to a mind like yonrs, there 
was no other ro.:d to fame hut by the destruction of a 
noble 'abric, whici) you thou::ht had been tOo long the 
admiraton of minkind. I'he use you h ive mnde of 
the military force, introduced aa alarming change in 
the mode of executing the laws. The arbitrary ap- 
pointment of Mr. Lnttrell invades the foundation of 
the laws themselves, as it minifestly tr;>nsfers the 
riglit of legislation from those whom the people have 
chosen, to those whom tiiey have rejected. With a 
encce>-sion of such appoiri*itients, we may soon see a 
tioug« of Commous collected} in the choice o£ wbicb 



JtlNIUS. © 

I the other towns and counties of England will have as 
I little sh^re as the devoted county of Middlesex. 
I Vet I trust your Grace will find that the people of 
ithis country are neither to be intimidated by violent 
i measures, nor deceived by refinements. When they 
i see Mr. Luttrell seated in the House of Commons, by 
mere dint of power, and in direct opposition to the 
choice of a whole county, they will not listen to those 
subtilties by which fvevy arbitrary exfition of au- 
thority is explained into the law and privilege of par- 
liament. It requires no persuasion of aro;timent, but 
siajply the evidence of the senses, to convince them, 
that, to transfer the rigijt of election from the collec- 
tive to the representative body of the people, contra- 
dicts all thore ideas of a House of Commons which 
they have received from their forefatliers, and wl.ich 
they had already, though vainly, perhaps, delivered 
to their children. The princijiles on which this vio- 
lent measure has been defended, have added scorn to 
injury, and forced us to feel that we are not only op- 
pressed, but insulted. 

With what force, my Lord, with what protection, 
are you prepared to meet the united detestntion of the 
people of England ? The city of London has given a 
generous example to the kingdom, in what manner a 
King of this country ought to be addressed : and, I 
f^ncy, n)y Lord, it is not yet in your courage, to stand 
between your Sovereign, and the addresses of his sub- 
jects. The ini'.uies 50U have done tliis country are 
such as demand not onlj'- redress, but vengeance. In 
vain shall you look for protection to that venal vote 
which you have already paid for: another must b* 
purchased ; and, to save a Minister, the House of 
Commons must declare themselves not only indepen- 
dent of their constituents, but the determined eneu)ies 
of the constitution. Consider, my Lord, wliether this 
he an extremity to which their fears will permit tliem 
to advance: or, if their protection should fail you, 
how tar you are authorized to rely upon the sincerity 
of those smiles, whidi a pious court lavishes without 
reluctance upon a libertine by profession. It is not, 
indeed, the least of tlie thousand contradictions which 
attend you, that a man, marked to the world by the 
grossett violation of all ceremony and decorum, skoald 



TO J0IS1US. 

be the first servant of a court, in which prayers are . 
morality, ;ind kneeling is religion. 

Trust not too far to appear^ncrs, by which your 
predecessors have been deceived, though they have 
not been injured. Even the best olpriuces may at last 
discover, that this is a contention in whicli every 
thing may be lost, but nothing can be gained : and, 
as you became Minister by accident, were adopted 
without choice, trusted without confidence, and con- 
tinued without favour, be assured, that wlienever an 
occasion presses, you will be discarded without even 
the forms of regret. Yon will tiien have reason to be 
thankftil, if you, are permitted to retire to that seat of 
learning, which, in contemplation of the system of 
your life, the comparative purity of your manners, 
with those of their high steward, and a thousand 
other recommending circumstances, has chosen you 
tn encourage the growing virtue of their youth, and 
to preside over tlieir education. Whenever the spirit 
of distributing prebends and bishoprics shall have de- 
parted from you, you will find that learned seminary 
perfectly recovered from the delirium of an installa- 
tion, and, what in truth it ought to be, once more a 
peaceful scene of slumber and thoughtless meditation. 
The venerable tutors of the university will no longer 
distress your modesty, by proposing you for a pattern 
to their pupils. The learned dulness of declamation 
will be silent; and even the venal muse, though hap- 
piest in fiction, will forget your virtues. Yet, for the 
benefit of the succeeding age, I could wish that your 
retreat mia;ht be deferred until your morals shall hap- 
pily be ripened to that maturity of corruption, at 
which the worst examples cea«es to be contagious. 

JUNIUS. 



LETTER XVI. 

To the, Printtr of the Public Advertiser. 

3IX, July 19, 1769. 

A GREAT deal of useless argument might have been 
saved, in the political contest which has arisen, from 
fhe expulsion of Mr. Wilkce, and the sobsequent ap- 



JUNIUS. 71 

pointment of Mr. Luttrell, if the question had been 
once stated witli precision, to the satisfaction of each 
party, and clearly understood by them both. Bat in 
thi?, as ill almost every otlier di^p^lte, it usually hap- 
ppn^ that miicli time is lost in referring to a multitude 
of cases and precedents, which prove nothing to the 
purpose; or in m•^iIltaininq: [.ropositions, which are 
either not disputed, or, whetlier they be admitted or 
denied, are entirely indifferent as to the matter in 
debate; until at last the mind, perplexed and con- 
founded with the endless subtilties of controversy, 
loses sight of the main qnestioit, and never arrives at 
truth. Both parlies in the disj^.u<<- are apt enough to 
practise these honest artifices. The man who is con- 
6ciou>- of the weakness of his cause is interested in con- 
cealing it : and, on tlie other side, it is not uncommon 
to see a good cause mangled by advocates, who do not 
know the real strength of it. 

] should be glad (o know, for instance, to what pur- 
pose, in til ■ present case, so many precedents have 
been produced to prove, that the Hou>ie of Commons 
have a right to expel one of their own members; that 
it belongs to them to judge of the validity of elections ; 
or that the law of parliament is part of the law of the 
land.f^* After all these propositions are admitted, Mr. 
LnttrelPs right to his seat vvill continue to be just as 
disputable as it was before. Not one of them is at 
present in agitation. Let it be admitted th it the 
House of Commons were authorized to expel Mr. 
Wilkes, that they are the proper court to judge of 
elections, and that the law of parliament is binding 
upon tlie people; still it remains to be inquiied, 
whether the House, by their resolution in favour of 
Mr. Luttrell, h^ive, or have not, truly declared that 
law. To facilitate this inquiry, 1 would have the 
question cleared of all forpij;n or indifferent matter. 
The following state of it will probably be thought a 
fair one by both parties; and then I imagine there is 
no gentleman in this country, who will not be capable 
of forming a judicious and true opinion upon it. I 
take the question to be strictly this: " Whether or 

* The reader will observe, that these admissions are 
made not as of truths unquestionable, but for the sake of 
argumeotj aad in order t* briog the real questivA to ksvc 



72 JUNIUS. 

no it be the known, established law of parliament, 
thvit the expulsion of a member of the House of Com- 
mons, of itself creates in him such an incapacity to be 
re-elected, that at a subsequent election, any votes 
given to him are null and void; and that uny other 
candidate, who, except the person expelled, has the 
greatest number of vote?, ought to be the sitting 
member " 

To pjove that the affirmative is the law of parlia- 
ment, I apprehend it is not sufficient for the present 
House of Commons to declare it to be so. VVe may 
?^hut our eyes, indeed, to the danscerous consequei ces 
of suffering one branch of the letrislature to declare 
new laws without argument or example; and it may, 
perhaps, be prudent enough to submit to authority; 
but a mere assertion will never convince, much less 
will it be thought reasonable to prove the right by 
the fact itself. The ministry have not yet pretended 
to «iich a tyranny over our minds. To support the 
affirmative fairly, it will either be necessary to pro- 
duce some statute, in which that positive provision 
s!>all have been made, that specific disability clearly 
created, and the consequences of it declared; 6i\ if 
there be no such statute, the custom of parliament 
must then be referred to; and some case oi- cases,* 
strictly in point, must be produced, with the decision 
of the court upon them ; tor 1 readily admit, that the 
<'ustom of parliament, once clearly proved, is equally 
biriding with the common and statute law. 

The considerntiou of what may be reasonable, or 
unreasonable, makes no part of this question. VVe are 
inquiring what the law is, not what it ought to be. 
Reason may be applied to show the impropriety or 
expedience of a Ia\y ; but we must liave either statute 
or precedent to pi-ove the existence of it. At the 
same time, f do not mean to admit that the late re- 
solution of the House of Commons is defensible on 
general principles of reason, any more than in law. 
This is not tlie Innge on which the debate turns. 

Supposing, therefore, that I have laid down an ac- 
curate state of the question, I will venture to afSrra, 

* Precerknts, in opposition to principles, have little 
weight with Junius; but he thought it necfiosarv to Kieut 
i^iie Miftiiitry upr.^a their 9^3 grounit 



JUNIOS. 7;3 

That there is no stiitute existing, by which that 
fie disability which we speak of is created. If 
; be, let it be produced. The argument will then 
: an end. 

lly. That there is no precedent, in all the pro- 
ings of the House of Commons, which comes en- 
Y home to the present case, viz. '* Where an ex- 
•d member has been returned again, and another 
iidate, with an inferior number of votes, has been 
ared the sitting member." If there be such a 
edent, let it be given to us plainly ; and 1 am sure 
11 have more weight than all the cuftning argii- 
, ^^s which have been drawn from inferences and 
r-!»abilities. 

• he Ministry in that laborious pamphlet, which I 

f'ume contains tlie whole strength of the party, 

e declared, "That Mr. Walpole's was the first and 

' ' instance in which the electors of any county or 

jugh had returned a person expelled to serve in 

same parliament." It is not possible to conceive 

ise more exactly in point, Mr. Walpole was ex- 

ed ; and, having a majority of votes at the next 

tion, was returned again. The friends of Mr. 

vlor, a candidate set up by the ministry, petitioned 

■ Hou?ethat he might be the sitting member. Thus 

the circumstances tally exactly, except that our 

ise of Commons saved Mr. Luttrell the trouble of 

' itioning. The point of the law, however, was 

- same. Itcame regularly before the House, and 

ras their business to determine upon it. They did 

ermine it; for they d<^-clared Mr. Taylor not duly 

' ied. If it be said, that they mealit this resolution 

matter of favour and indulgence to the borough 

ich had retorted Mr. Walpole upon them, in order 

-.t the burgesses, knowing what the law was, might 

irrect their error, [answer, 

■; That it is \ stiange way of arguing, to oppose a 

iposition, which no ban can prove, to a fact which 

)ve8 itself. 

II. That if tliis were the intention of the House of 
ramons, it must have defeated itself. The burges- 
; of Lynn could never have known their error, 
ich less coiild they have corrected it by any in- 
..uction they received from the proceedings of the 
' ouse of Commons. They might, periiaps, have fore- 



74 JtJNIUS 

seen, that if they returned Mr. Walpole agnin, he 
would again be rejected; but they never could infer, 
from a resohition by whicli the candidate with the 
fewest votes was declaied ivotduly elexted, that at a 
future election, and in siniiiar circumstiuces, the 
House of Commonp would reverse their resolution, 
and receive the same candidate as duly elected, whom 
they had before rejected. ^-,;^, 

This, indeed, would have been a most extraor3i-- 
nary way of declaring the law of parliament, and- 
what, 1 presume, no man, whose underst;inuins i? not 
at cross purposes with itself, could possiblj' under-? 
stand. 

If, in a case of this importance, I thought myself i 
at liberty to arguefrom suppositions rather than from 
facts. 1 think the probability, in this instance, is di- 
rectly the reverse of what the ministry affirm ; and 
tliat it is much more likely that the House of Com- 
mons, at th it time, would rather have sirained a 
point in favour of Mr. Taylor, than th't they would 
have violated the law of parliament, and robbed Mr. 
Taylor o a right legally vested in him, to gratify a 
refractory borough, which, in defr^nce of them, had 
returned a person branded with the strongest mark of 
the displeasure of the House. 

But really. Sir, this way of talking (for I cannot 
call it argument"), is a mockery of the common un- 
derstanding of the nation, too gross to be endured. 
Our dearest interests are at stake. An attempt has 
been made, not merely to rob a single county of its 
lights, !>ut, by inevitable consequence, to alter the 
constitution of the House of Commons. This fatal 
attempt has succeeded, andstan<is as a precedent re- 
corded for ever. If the ministry are unable to defend , 
their cause by fair argument, founded on facts, let 
them spare us, at least, the mortification of being 
amused and del'^ded, like children I believe, there 
isyet a sui'it of resistance in thi> country, which will 
not submit to be oppre.<?sed; but 1 am sure there is a 
fund of good sense ia this country, which cannot be 

'''''''^- JUNIUS. 



JUNIUS: w 

I LETTER XVII. 

j To the Printer of the Public Advertiser. 

SIR, August 1, 176% 

It will not be necessary for Junius to take^he 
rouble of answering your correspondent G. A. orlhe 
I notation from a speech without doors^ publislied m 
' rour paper of the 28th of last month. The speech 
ippeared before Junius's letter ; and, as the author 
rieems to consider the great proposition on whicli all 
lis arjiiments depends, viz. that Mr. JVilkes wasun- 
ierthat ktwrm legalincapadiy ofrvhich Junius speakSy 
is a point granted, his speech is in no shape an an- 
swer to Junius, for this is the very question in debate. 
As to G. A.. I observe, first, that if he did not ad- 
mit Junius's state of tlie question, he should have shown 
the fallacy ofit, or given us a more exact one. Second- 
lv,th?.t, considering the many hours and days wiiich 
tiie Ministry and their advocates have wasted ia 
public dtbate, m compiling large quartos, and col- 
lecting innumerable precedents, expressly to prove, 
that the late proceedings of the Ho<.se of Commons 
aie warranted by the law, custom, and practice of 
parli'ment, it is rather an extraordinary supposition 
to be made by one of their own party, even for the 
sake of argument, that no suck statute^ no suck cus- 
^om of parliament, no such case in point, can be pro- 
duced. G. A. may, however, make the >^up[tositioa 
with safety. It contains nothing butliteraify thefact; 
exc'>pt that there is a case exactly in point, witli a 
decision of the House, dinmetrically op.iosite to that, 
which the present House of Commons came to in fa- 
vour of !V1r. Luttr^ll. 

Thv- Ministry now begin to be ashamed of the 
weakness of their cause ; and, as it usually happens 
with falsehood are driven to Vu- necessity of shifting 
their groimd, and changing tiieir whole defence. At 
first we were tokl, that nothing could be clearer, than 
that the proceedings of the House of Commons were 
jpstified by the known law and uniform custom of 
parliament. But now it seems, if there be no law, 
the House of Commons have a right to make one ; 
ajid, if there be no precedent, they have a xi&Ut-to 



7S JUNIUS. 

create the first ; for this, I presume, is the amour 
the questions proposed to Junius. If your corres 
dent had been at all versed in the law of parliair 
or generally in the laws of this country, he W' 
have seen that this defence is as weak and fals 
tha. former. 

The privileges of either House of Parliament, 
trua^ are indefinite: that is, they have not been 
scribed or laid down in any one code or declara 
whatsoever; but, whenever a question of privilegt 
arisen, it has invariably been disputed or maintai 
upon the footing of precedents alone.* In the co 
of the proceedings upon the Aylesbury election, 
House of Lords resolved, " That neither house of 1 
liament had any power, by any vote or deelarat 
to create to themselves any new privilege, i 
was not warranted by the known laws and cust 
of Parliament." And to this rule, the House of C 
raons, though otherwise they had acted in a v 
arbitrary manner, gave their assent ; for they affi 
ed, thattheyhadetiided themselves by it, in assen 
their privileges. Now, Sir, if this be true, with res( 
to matters of privilege, in which the House of C 
mons, individually, and as a body, are principally c 
cerned, how much more strongly will it hold aga 
any pretended power in that House to create or 
clare a new law, by which not only the rigitts of 
Houfieover their own member, and those of the lU' 
ber himself, are included, but also those of a third ; 
separate party ; I mean the freeholders of the ki 
dom ! To do justice to the Ministry, they have 
yet pretended that any one, or any two, of the t!i 
Estates, have power to make a new law, without 
concurrence of the third. They know that ^ m 
who maintains such a doctrine, is liable, by stati 
to the heaviest penalties. They do not acknowliM 
that the House of Commons have assumed a neiv i 
vilege, or declared anew law. On the contrary, tt.. 
affirm, that their proceedings have been strictly cp 
formable to, and founded upon, the ancient law a • 
custom of Parliament. Thus, therefore, the quest 

* This J8 still meeting the ministry upon their o 
ground : for, in truth, no prececients will support eithe- 
tyral injustice, or violatita of positive rights. 



aUi\lUa 77 

irns io the point at wliich Junius had fixed it, viz 
xtlhcror no this be the law of Parliament "} M it be 
» t')e House of Conmions had no Jejal anthoritvto 
iblish the F^recedtntj and the precedent itself 'is a 
;efact, Without any proof of right whatsoever, 
our correspondent conchides with a question oi' 
simplest nature : Mast a thing he wron<r, hccnr- 
as never been done be/ore ?- No. But, adinltlinT it 
e proper to be done, that alone does not convvv 
iiitliority to do it. As to the present case, I hop"i» 
all never seethe time, when not only a single 
on, hut a whole county, and, in efToct, the entire, 
ecfive body of the people, m.iy as:nin be roi-hed 
heir birlh-rijrht by a vote of t!ie House of Con;- 
■». But if, for reasons which I am unable to eom- 
lend, it beneres.sary to trutt (fiat Motise with a 
er so exorbitant and so nnconslitsjtional, at lea^" 
I be given to thein by an act of the le-ishit-ir'^ 
PHILOJU.N lU.-r. 



LETTER XVIII. 

ir IVilllam Blackstone, Solicitor General to Htr 
Majesty. 

JuLF L'9, 1769. 
rTAi.L make yon no apoloo:y for con^iderlno; a cer- 
pamphlet, in which your late conduct i.s defend- 
IS written by yourself. The personal interest, 
ersonalresentments, and, above all, that wounJ- 
irit. unaccustomed to reproach, and, 1 hope, not 
ently conscious of deservin<^ it, are signals whicii 
y the author to ns, as plainly as if your nam.- 
in the title page. Yon appeal to the public, in 
ce of your reputation- We hold it. Sir, that arv 
/ offered to an Individual, is interesting to socic- 
n tins principle, the people of England made coni- 
;anse with Mr. Wilkes. On this principle, if 
re injured, they v.iil join in vonr resentment. 
I not follow you through t!ie insipid form of :■>'■ 
;-erson, but address myself to voa direoth-. 



J UMTS. 



Yon ?<cm to think tiie chnnni.] of ;i pamphitt more i 
;cspeclal,>le and bettor snitecl to the clif.^nity of your ' 
cause, than that of a new-pnper. Be it fo. Yet, i' 
iiewppripers are scuiri'on?, yoii n!u>t confeiss tliey ai c 
impartial, Tliey •live us withoiit any apparent ptt- 
ference, tlie wit and arj;i!inefit of the Ministry, as| 
well as t!ie abiiiive dsilness of tiie opposition, Tlie 
scales are equally poi?ed. It is not tlie priuter's fault 
if the greater wei^iht inclines the balance. 

Your p:-iniphitt then ib divided into an attack npon 
Mr. (irenviile'scharactcr, and a di'teiiceof your own. 
It wouid have been move consi.-ient, per hap,-', with 
your profef*f<i intention, to liave confined yourpelf toil 
the laft. But ang< r has some claim to indtiljrence, 
and railing; is usnaliy a relief to the niiiid. I hope 
you have found benefit from the expei inicnt. it is' 
not \v,y desian to enter into a formal vindication ofj 
Mr, GrenviUe upon his own principlfs. I have nei-; 
ther tiie honour of being personally known to him," 
.Kor do I pretend to be completely Ina^te^ of all the 
J'.icts. I need not lun the risk of dcina: an injustice to 
liis opinion.-', or to his conduct, wiien your pamjjhlet 
alone carrier, upon the face of it, a fuli vindication of 
hatli. I 

Your first reflection is, that Mr. Grenville* war, 
of ail men, the perscui who should not hsve complain* 
rd of inconpi^tence with regr.rd to Mr. "Wilkes. Thi?, 
Sir, is either an uniiie-.Jnins sneer, a peevish^ expres- 
sion of resentment: or, if it means any thirrj; you 
j)lain!y beg the qi estion : for, whc-ther Ins parlia- 
mentary conduct, with re-i^ard to .Mr, Wjikes, has or 
]ms fiot bet n inconsistent, renuins yet to be proved. 
Bt:t it seems he received upon the s'tot a st;fi!cifi;t 
chastisement lor exeici^iiii.ii: so unfairly liis talonts of 
niisrepresentalion. \ov, are a lawyer, ^ir, and kno\fa 
bettei, than 1 do upon what particular occasions a 
talent for misrepiesentafion fuay he fairly exeilidj 
butto punish a m?)n a second time, when he has bten 
once sntGciently chastised is ratht-r too severe. It iii 
not in the laws'of England; it isnot ij) your own cotn- 
intntaries; nor is it yet, I believe, in the new law you 

* :\Tr. GrenTille had quoted a passage frrm the Doflor's 
pv<*t?!!e!it CcnirTienlaries, 'v\h;(.ii (lueclly fi.nlradictcil 1h« 
cicctriae ui2int-.'.inc\l by -^'-^ Doctcr iji iKc House of Cum' 



JUNIUS. 79 

have revealeJ to the House of Common?. I hope this 
doctrine has no existence but in your own heart. 
After all, Sir, if you had consnlted that sober discre- 
tion, which you seem to o;:pose with triumph to the 
honest jollity of a tavern, it might have occurred to 
you, that, although yon could have succeeded in fix- 
ing a charge of inconsistence upon Mr. Grenville, it 
-would not have tended in any shape to exculpate 
yonrself. 

Your next insinuation, tliat Sir William Meredith 
had hastily adopted the false grosses of his new ally, 
is of the same sort with the first. It conveys a sneer, 
as little worthy of the gravity of your character, as 
it is useless to your defence It is of little moment 
to the public to inquire, hy whom the charge was con- 
ceived, or by whom it was adopted. The only ques- 
tion we ask is, whether or not it be true p The remain- 
der of your reflections upon Mr. Grenville's conduct 
destroy themselves. lie could not possibly come pre- 
pared to traduce your integrity to the house ; he could 
not foresee that you would even speak upon the ques- 
tion; much lesscoukl lie foresee thatyou would main- 
tain a direct contradiction of thatdoctrine which you * 
had solenmly, disinterestedly, and, upon the soberest 
reflection, delivered to the pul)lic He came armed, 
indeed, with wliat he thought a respectable authority,^ 
to support, wliat he was convinced, was the cause of 
truth ; and, I doubt not, he intended to give you, in 
the course of the debate, an honourable and public 
testimonj' of his esti-om. Thinking highly of his 
abililips, I cannot, liowever, allow him the gift of 
diviuation. Astowhatyouareplpasedtocall a plan^ 
cooly formed to impose upon the House of Commons, 
and iiis producing it without provc-ation, atpidnight, 
I consider it as the 1 inguage of pique and invective, 
and tlieirfore unworthy of regard, hut, Sir, 1 am 
sensible I have followed your example too long, and 
wandered from iUv. point. 

The quotation from your commentaries is matter 
of record. It can nciflu rbf altered by your •"'■;' r.ds, 
nor misrepresented by your enemie;*; and I am wil- 
ling to fake your ow-i Word for what you hav*^ >;aid 
in the House of Cnnimcns. If tiiere be a real differ- 
ence betv,'cen what you have v itten, and what you 
<iave epckcH, you coufesi? t^at your boak oaght t© be 



80 JUiMU^. 

(he standard. Now, Sir, if words mean any tiiins-, 
I apprnjliend, that, when a Ion? enumeration of dis- 
qualifications (whether by statute, or the custom of 
parliament) concludes withtheise general comprehen- 
sive words, " but subject to these restrictions and dis- 
qualifications, every subject of the realm is elisible 
of common right," a reader of plain understanding, 
must of course rest satisfied, that no species of dis- 
qualification whatsoever had been omitted. The 
known character of tlie author, and the apparent ac- 
curacy with which the whole work is coinpiled, would 
confirm him in his opinion : nor could he possibly 
form any other judgment, without looking upon your 
commentaries in the samelightin which you consider 
th'ise penal laws, which, tljough not repealed, are 
fallen into disuse, and are now, iu effect, a snare to 
the urjivary.*- 

Vou tell us, indeed, that it was not part of your of 
plan to specify any temporary incapacity ; and th-at 
yon coi'.ld not, without a spirit of prophecy, have 
specified the disability of a private iodividuai, sub- 
sequent to the period at which you wrote. Wiiat 
your plan was, 1 know not; but what it should ha\'6 
been, in order to complete the work you have given 
us, is by no means difficult to determine. The inca- 
pacity, which yon call temporary, may continue 
seven years ; and though you might not have foreseen 
the particular case of Mr. Wilkes, you might, and 
should have foreseen the possibility of such a case, 
and told us how farthe House of Commons were au- 
thorized to proceed iu it, by the law and custom of 
parliament. The freeiioldtis of Middlesex would 
then have known what tliey had to trust to, and 
■would never have returned Mr. Wilkes, when Colo- 
nel Luttrcll was a candidate against him. Tiiey 
would have chosen some indiflerent person, rather 
than submit to be represented by the object of their 
contempt and detestation. 

Your attempt to distinguish between disabilities 
which affect whole classes of men, and those which 

"*lf, in stating the law iipcn any point, a judge deliberate- 
ly affirms that he has included every cafie, and it should ap- 
pear that he has purposely onaitted a mateuai case, lie Uce.^ : 
in effect, lay a suare for the u;:i^ ary. 



JUNIUS. a 

affect individuals only, is really innvorti'.y of your 
nnderstanding;. Your commentaries had tatig-lit nie 
that, although the instance in which a penal law is 
exerted be particular, the laws themselves are gene- 
ral : they are made for the benrfit and instruction Oi 
the public, thongbthe penally falls only upon an in- 
dividual. You cannot but know, Sir, that what was 
Mr. Wilkes's case yesterday may be yours or mine 
to-morrow, and that, consequenth', the common 
right of every subject of the realm is invaded by it 
Professing, therefore, to treat of the constitution ol 
the House of Commons, and of the laws and customs 
relative to tliat constitution, you certainly were 
guilty of a most unpardonable omission, in taking no 
notice of a right and privilege of the House, luove 
extraordinary and more arbitrary than all tlie others 
they possess, put togetiier. If tlie expulsion of ai 
member, not under any legal disability, of itself 
creates in him an incapacity to be elected, I see a 
ready way marked out by which the majority may,, 
at any time, remove the honestest and ablest men 
who happen to be in opposition to them. To say that 
they will not make tlii.s extravagant use of their pow- 
lyCr, would be a language unfit for a man so learned 
' "n the laws as you are. By your doctrine, Sir, they 
ave the power : and laws, you know, are intended 
guard against what men may do, not to trust to 
hat they will do. 

Upon tlie whole. Sir, tlie charge against j'^ou is of 
plain, simple nature; it appears even upon the face 
of your own pamphlet. On the contrary, your jus- 
tification of yourself is full of subtility and refine- 
ment, and ill some places not very intelligible. ^ If I 
were personally your enemy, I sliould dwell with a 
malignant pleasure upon those great and useful qua- 
lifications which you certainly possess, and by which 
you once acquired, though they could not preserve to 
you, the respect and esteem of your countiy : I should 
enumerate the honours you have lost, and the virtues 
you have disgraced; but, having no private resent- 
ments to gratify, I think it sufficient to have given 
Diy opinion of your public conduct, leaving the pun- 
ishment it deserves to your closet and to j-ourself. 

JUi\lU8 



82 JUiMUS. 

LETTER XIX. 

Addressed to the Editor of the Public Jdvcrtise^r, 

5IR, August 14, 1769. 

A CORRESPONDENT oF the St. James'.' Evening Post 
first wilfully misunderstands Junius, then censures 
him for a bad reasoner. Junius does not say that it 
wasincumhentupon Doctor Blackstoneto foreseeand 
state the crimes for which Mr. Wilkes was expelled. 
If, by a spirit of prophecy, he had even done so, it 
would have been noihinj to the t>nrpose. The ques- 
tion is, not for what particular offences a person may- 
be expelled, but generally, whether by the law of 
parliament, expulsion alone creates a disqualification. 
If the affirmative he the law of parliament, Doctor 
Elackstone might, and should, havetoldus so. The 
question is not confined to this or that particular per- 
t^on, but forms one great brancli of disqualification, 
too important in itself, and too extensive in its con- 
sequences, to be omitted in an accurate work, e.K- 
pressly trealing of the law of parliament. _ 

The truth of the matter is evidently this: Doctor i 
Elackstone, while he was speakino; in the House ofa 
Commons, never once tiiouglit of his commentaries un^d 
til the contradiction was unr^xpectedly ur^ed and stare, 
ed him in the face. Instead of defeiidingliimself uponi- 
tlje spot, he sunk under the charge in an agony of con-of 
fusion and despair. It i^ w«^!l known that there was ' 
a pause of some minutes ia the House, from a general 
expectation that the Doctor would say something in 
his ovrn defence ; but it seems his faculties were too 
much overpowered to think of those subtilties and re- 
finements which have since occured to him. It was then 
Mr.Grenville received that severe chastisement which 
the Doctor mentions with so niucli triumph :/ n)u/i 
the hnnoitrablc gentlemen, instead of shaking his head, 
WQull shcke a good argument out of it. _ If to the ele- 
gance, novelty, and bitterness, of this ingenious sar- 
casm, we add the natural melody of the nmiable Sir 
rietcher Norton's pipe, we shall not be surprised that 
M.'. Grenvllle was unable to n)ake him any reply. 

As to the Doctor, 1 would recommend it to him to 
be quiet. * If not. he may, perhaps, hear again from 
Jrjcius himself. ' PHILO JUIS'lUS. 



JUNIUS. 88 



POSTSCRIPT to a PampJihl,mt'dlpiU An Ans^ver 
to the Questions stTtrd. Supposed to be nritten hy 
Dr. Blackstone, Solicitor to the. Qween, in ansricr to 
Junius^s Letter. 

Since these papers were sent to the pres?, n •vrriter, 
in the public papers, who subscribes himself Juniu?, 
has made a feint of bringing this question to a short 
issue. Thoug:!i tlie foregoing observatinps contain, in 
my opinion, at least, a full refutation of all that tbis 
viiter has offered, I Khefll, however, bestow a very few 
words upon him. It will cost me very little trouble 
to unravel and expose the sophistry of his argument. 
' I take the question (says he) to be strictly Ibis; 
Whether or no it bo the known e.-tablished law of 
Parliament, that the expulsion of a member of the 
House of Commons, of L*>clf, creates in him such art 
incapacity to be re-elected, that, at a subsequent 
elr?ction, any votes given to him are null and void; 
and that any otlier candjuate, who, except the person 
expelled, has the ;rreatest number of votes, oughl in 
be the sitting member.' 

Waving, for the present, an}' objection I may have 
V) tills state of tiie question, I sliall venture to meet 
w champion upon his own ground; and attem'it to 
pport the ai?;i niative of it, ia one of the two ways 
• « hich he says it can be alone fiirly supported. 
'. jflf lliere be no statute (says !k') in which the speci;lc 
isal'i'.ily isclearly created, fcc. (and we ackno'-vlcdge 
here is ni^.ne") the custom of Parliament must then he 
lefcrrcd to; and som<i case, or cases, strictl}' in point, 
must be produced, with tlie deci-ion of the court upon 
t'lem.' Now, I assert, that this has been done. Mr. 
Walpole's case is .strictly in point, to prove that ex- 
I.ulsion creates absolute incapacity of being re elect- 
ed. Tliis was theclear di'ciiion of the House upon it ; 
and was a full declaration, tliat incapacity was the 
necessary consequence of expulsion. Tbelaw was a? 
clearly and firmly fixed by this resolution, and i- as 
binding in every subsequent case of expulsion, as if it 
had been declared by an express statute, that, a 
'• member, expelled by a resolution of the House ot* 
Commons, elnll be deemed incapable of being ro- 
ekcVed." Wl^atcvcr doub; then tiicre might have 



83 JUNIUS. 

been of the law, brfore Mr. vralpole's ca'sc, whh re- 
spect to the full operation of a vote of expulsion, 
liiere can be none nOK. The deci-sion of tiie House, 
upon this case, is strictly in point, to prove, tliat cx- 
jjulsion creates absolute incapacity in law of being re- 
elected. 

But incapacity in law, in this instance, must have 
the same operation and effect with incapacity in law 
in every other instance. Now, incai)acity of beiiig 
re-elected implies, in its very terms, that'any votes 
jriven to the incapable person, at a subsequent elec- 
tion, are null and void. Tliis is its necessary opera- 
tion, or it has no operation at all: It is vox et prate • 
rea vAhil. We can no more be called upon to prove 
this proposition, than we can to prove that a dead 
man is not alive; or that twice two are four. When 
the terms are understood, the proposition is self-evi- 
dent. 

Lastly, it is, in all case? of election, the known and 
established law of the land, ^rounded upon the clear- 
fst principles of reason and common sense, that iCtlie. 
votes given to one candidate are null and void, they 
rannot be opposed to the votes given to another C9n- 
didate; ti.icy cannot aft'cct the voles of such candidate 
at all. x\s tliey have, on the one iiand, no positive 
quality to add or establish, so have thc.v, on the othe 1 
hand, no negntive one to subtract or destroy. Tbe;^ 
nre, in a word, a mere nou(-ntIty. Such was the d(6, 
termination of the House cfCouunons in the Maldi'^i- 
nnd Bedford elections; cases strictly in in-int to the* 
present question, as far as they aix- meant to be in 
point. And to say that t!iey are not in point in all 
tircu.m.'tancps, in those particularly which are inde- 
pendent of the proposilion whicli tiiey are quoted to 
prove, i.-^ to say no more than that Mnlden is not 
Middlesex, nor'Sargeaut Comyns .Mr. Wilkes. 

Let »•■ see then how our proof stands. Expulsion 
creates incapacity, incapacity annihilates any vote^ 
given to the incapable [person ; the voles given to the 
tjualiiud candidate stand, upon tijeir own bottom, tlrm 
and untouched, and can alone have effect. This, one 
would think, would he sufficient. But we are stopped 
Fhort, and told, that none of our precedents come 
home to the present case, and are challenged to pro- 
duce " a precedent i« all the proceedings of the Uowv 



JUNIUS. 8j 

•f ConimoiiS that dofs come honin to it, viz. where nn 
expelled member has been retarntd again, and anolkfir 
candidate, niih an inferior number of votes has been de- 
clared th&sittin<^ ?nc?nier." 

Instead of a precedent, I vviil beg Irave to put a 
case, which, I ftincy, will be quite as decisive to liic 
present point. Suppose another Sachcverell (and 
every party must have its Sacheveieli) should, a 
some future election, take it into his licad to ofiVv 
himself a candidate for the county of Middlesex. He 
is opposed by a candidate wiiosecoat is of a different 
colour, but, however, of a very good colour. Tiie 
divine has an iudisput.ible majority; nay, the poor 
layman is absolutely distanced. The sheriff, after 
haviuji had his conscience well iufoiir.ed by the re- 
verend casuist, returns him, as iie supposes, duly 
elected. The whole House is ia an uproar, at the 
apprehension of so strange an appearance aaionijst 
them. A motion, however, is at len^tii made, tiiat 
tlie person was incapable of bpiaj eh^cted; that his 
election therefore is null aud void; and that iiis com- 
petitor ouglit to have been retiu-ned. i\o, says a 
great orator; first show me your law for this proceed 
ing. " Either produce me a statute, in w|)ich the spe- 
^ cific disability of a clergyman is created: or produce 
\me a precedent, where a clergyman lias bccnrtdirnud, 
id i}:.^thercandid(ite,wiihan inferior nambtr ofvotcj, 
A^lii/y been declared the sittiiig member.''^ Xo yuch sta- 
"1^ 'ute, no such precedent to be found. V\'i)at answer 
hen is to be given to this demand p The very sime 
uswer which I will give to that of Junius. Tfiat 
ther*" is more than one precedent in the proccediu'j-s 
of the House, " where an incapable person h-ig been 
returtied, and anotlier caudidite, with an inferior 
number of vote's, lias been declared the sit'ing nu:ta- 
bsr; and that this is tlie known and e.st.ii)hs!}rd law, 
in all cases of incapacity, from whiitcver cause it may 
arise." 

1 shall now, th'^refore, beg leave to make a slight 
amendment to Juniiis's state of the question, the ai- 
firmative of which will then stand thus: 

'* It is the known and establislied la^v of Parliament, 

that the ex;»ulMOu of ^nv meaibe-- nf the House oV 

Commons creates in him an incapacity of being re.- 

cic-ct(,d; tiial any votes given to hiai at a subseq.icr.t 

1)2 



^6 jUNirs. 

^ lection, are, jn conspqiienre of Eudi incapacity, n&ll 
and void; and that any otiier candidate, who, except 
i!ie person rendered incapable, has the greatest nnai- 
ber cf vote?, Ouj^ht to be the sitting member.'^ 

But our business is not yet quite finished. Mr. 
Wal pole's case must Imve a re-hearing. " It is not 
possible," says this writer, "to conceive a caae jnore 
<;xactly in point. Mr. Walpole was expelled, and, 
having a majority of votes at the next eleclion, was 
returned again. The friends of Mr. Taylor, a can- 
didate set up by t)ie ministry, petitioned the House 
that lie might be tlie sitting member. Thus far the 
', ircunistances tally exactly; exce.^t that our House 
'/f Commons saved Mr. Lultrell the trouble of peti- 
^oning. The point of law, however, was tlie same. 
It came regularly before the House-, and it was their 
misiness to determine upon it. They did detertriine 
it; fortiiey declared .Mr. Tnylov not dvly elected." 

instead of examining tl)e justness of ihls representa- 
♦ i.'in, I shall beg leave to oppose against it my own 
'it.'W of the case, in as plain a manner, and as few 
\(n\h as I am able. 

{t was the known and established law of Parliament, 
wiien the charge against Mr. H'alpole came before the 
House of Cnnminn.s that they had power to expel, to. 
disable, and to render incapable for offences. 
WW. of this power they expelled him. 

Had they, in tiic very vote of expuh 
wim, in terms, to be incapable of beinf 
rhere nitist liavc been at once an end with him. Bi p 
1 hough the right of the House, both to expel and ad' 
judge incapable, was clear and indubitable, itdoesnoi 
appear to me, that the full operation and effect of a 
vole of txpnlslon singly was so. The law in tiiis case 
had never been expressly declared; there had" been 
no event to tail up sucli a declaration, i trouble not 
myself with tlie grammatical meaning of the word ex- 
}»nlsi6n; 1 jegard only its legal meaning. This was 
iiot, as I tliiiidr, precisely fixed. The House Ihoijgiit 
proper to fix it, and explicitly to declare the full 
i'onsequences of their former vote, before they suffered 
these consequences to take effect: Andin tliisproceed- 
ing they acted upon the most liberal and solid princi- 
Vjlics of equity, justice, and law. What then did the 
tjiirgeTsescfijVRrt collect frcm the .second YQte.'* Th^Iji" 



ver to expeJ, to- 
fences. Jn vky 

ilsion, adjudg-^f 
Mng re-elcc.te() 



JUNIUS. 87 

subsequent conduct will tell ns^ it will w llii certainty 
tfll iiSjtijat they considered it as decisive against Mr, 
^V'alpoie, ]t will also, with pfjual ceit.naty, tell ii», 
tiiat, upon supposition tliat the law of election stood 
tlieu as it does nou', and that they knew it to stand 
lluis, tliey inferred, " tijat, at a fnttirc election, and in 
case of a similar return, the Iloune would receive the 
same can lidate as duly elerted whom tliey had hc- 
fore rejected." They could infer notliin'^ but tiiis. 

It is needle?s to repeat the circumstance of dissimi- 
larity in the present case: it will be sutucient to ob- 
serve, that, as the law of Parliament, upon which the 
House of Commons grojuded every step of their pro- 
ceeding.'3, was clear beyond the reach of doubt, so nei- 
ther could the freeholders of Middlesex be at a loss to 
foresee what must be the inevitable ronsequencc of 
llieir proceedino;? in opposition to it; for, upon every 
I fturn of Mr. Wilkes, the House made inquiry whe- 
IhfT n'.\y votes were given to any other candidate. 

But i could venture, for tiie experiment's sal<p, even 
to give tiiis writer the utmo«t he asks; to allow the 
raost perfect similarity throughout, in these two ca- 
uses; to allow that the law of expulsion was quite as 

V T^lear to tiie burgesses of Lynn as to the freeholders of 
A liddlpsex. It will, I am confident, avail his cause 
,M;iit little. It will only prove that t!ie law of elecliop, 
dl^ that lime, was ditU^rent from the present law. It 

V cil prove that in all cases of an incapable candidate 
t Ttiiined, the law then was, tint the wliole election 
;iould be void. But now we know that this is not 

Aw. The ca.=;es of Maiden and Bedford were, as has 
', 'oern seen, dL-terminrd upon other and more just prin 
ciples. And these determinations are, I imagine, ad 
mitted en all sides to be law. 

I would willingly draw a veil over the remaining 
part of this paper. It is astonishing, it is painful to 
see men of parts and ability giving in to tlie most un- 
worthy arlilices, and descending so much below their 
true line of character. But, if Ihey are not the dupes 
of their sophistry (which is hardly to be conceived) 
let them consider that they are something much 
worse. 

The dearest interests of this country are its laws 
and its constitution. Against every attack upon 
those, there will, I hope, b« always found amongst us 



88 JUrsiUS. 

the firmei^t apirit of rcsistarce ; ituperior to tlie united 
efFortt^ of iaotion and ambition. For aijibition, tlioiigli 
it does not always take theleadoffviction, will be sure, 
in tlie e/id, to maket'ieniost fatal advantage of it, and 
dravT it to its own pnrpo?c?. But, 1 trust, our day 
of trial is yet far off; and there is ajund of good sense 
in this counirj^, which cannot long he deceived by the 
arts either of lal^e reasoning, or false patriotism. 



LETTER XX. 

To the Printer of the. Public Advertiser. 

SJR, August 8, 17C9. 

TnEgentleman -wliohaspKbUi-lied aa answer to Sic 
William Meredith^ pamphlet, having honoured me 
vlth a post-'cript of six quarto pages, which he mod- 
erately calls bestowing a very few words upon ine, \ 
cannot, io common politenes?, rrfnse hitn a reply. 
The form and mrgnitiidt- of a quarto imposes tipon 
the nijirJ; and jiicn, who are unrquai to the laboup 
vif disci'.j^?if!g an intricate argument, or w ish to avoic] . 
1% are willing enough to suppose that much has bec.j 
i roved, bc^canse mtjch has been said. Mine, Ico7'" 
li-g?, are bumblelabotirs. 1 do noi prcsniue to instr;; ^ 
the leMriiod, but slaipiy to inform the body of the p. 
jule ; and I prrfor that channel of conveyance whi 
i? likely to spread furtiiest among them. The advu \ 
v,ates of th- Ministry seem to lue to write for fame. 
uTid to flatter themselves that the fcii!'; of their works 
•vi!l make them immortal. They pile up roluclant 
tijarto upo 1 solid foil/), as if their labours, because 
they are gi^iuti-', could contend with truth and 

'i'l»#w: (Itr of the volutr'.e in question rr!eet'"^mp ujwq 
5iiy own ground. He acknowledges liiere is no .«tat* 
.itchy wiiichthe specific disability we speak of Is cre- 
dited; Ijiit iie affirms, t!v.\t the custom of parliament 
Juis been r^'fi rred t >, and that a cnse strictly in point 
has hern prod ic(d, with t!»» decision of t!)e court 
•ipon it. I thank i:!;i for coming so fviirly to the point. 
He as'^erts, tliiit lit • (a.^e of Mr. Walpole is strictly 
;i ftnlat, to prove jiu^ e>pu'?ion froates sri uhtvhile 



JUNIUS. 89 

incapacity o£ being re-elected ; and for this purpose, 
he refrrs generally to tlie first vote of the Floiise 
iip(>n that ocnaf-ion, without venturing to recite the 
vole itself. The unfair, disingenuous artifice of adopt- 
ing that part of a precedent which seems to suit his 
pMi-pose, and omitting tlie remainder, deserves some 
pit}', but cannotexcite my resentment. HetaT<es ad- 
vant.ige eagerly of the first resolution, by which Mr. 
Walpole's incapacity is declared; but as to the two 
following, by which the candidate with the fewest 
votes wa« declared "not dulv elected," and the elec- 
tion itself vacated, I dare say, he would be well sat- 
i-^fied, if they were for ever blotted out of the Jour- 
nals of the House of Commons. In fair argument, no 
part of a precedent should be admitted, unless the 
whole of it be given to us together. The author has 
divided his precedent; for he l\new, that, taken to- 
gether, it produced a consequence directly the re- 
verse of that which he endeavours to draw from a 
vote of expulsion. But, what will tliis honest person 
S'_y, if I take him at his word, and demonstrate to 
him, that the House of Commons never meant to 
found Mr. Walpole's incapacity upon his expulsion 
only ? Wliat subterfuge will then remain ? 

Let it be remembered, that we are speaking of the 
intention of men, who lived more than half a cen- 
;■ ago; and that such intention can only be col- 
d fiom their words and action?, as they are dc 
ii V ercd to ns upon record. To piovc their designs by 
a supposition of what they would have done, opposed 
to what they actually did, is mere trifling and im- 
pertinence. The vole by which Mr. Walpole's in- 
c-.ipacity was declared is thus exi)ressed : "That 
Ptoheit Vvalpole, Escj. having been, t'lis session of 
parliament, committed a prisoner to the Tower, and 
expelled this House, for a bieach of trust in the ex- 
ecution of his o/Tice, and notorious, corruption, when 
secretary at war, was, and i-% incapable of being 
ele -led a member, to serve in this present parlia- 
iijent*." Now, Sir, to my understanding, no pro- 

* It is well worth rcmarkin:;, that the compiler of a ccr- 
tiin quarto, called, The Case of the last Election for the 
f'ou7)tij of Middlesex cun.iidered, has tlie impudence to recit«; 
'Ji!>. ^cry voU ia the fwilon-hi^ icra-ii, viJe p^^e 11, " llr- 



^ JUNIUS. 

position 6f this land can be more evident, than .(hat 
the House of Gommons, by this very vole, l;hemsolves 
understood, nnd meant to declare, that Mr. Wal- 
pole's incapacity arose from the crimes he had com- 
mitted, not from tlie punishment the House annexed 
to them. Tlie hi^h breach of trii^t, the notoi ions 
corruption, are stated in t!ie strongest terms. They 
do not tell us (hat he was incapable, because he was 
expelled, but because he had been guilty of such of- 
fcncco as justly rendered him unworthy of a seat in 
parliament. If they had intended to fix the disability 
upon his expulsion alone, the mention of his crimes 
in the .same vote would have been hig;hly improper. 
It could only perplex the minds of the electors, who, 
if they collected any tiling from so confused a de- 
claration of the law of Parllnmeut, must have con- 
eluded, that their representative liad been declared 
incapable, because he was highlyguilty, notbecause 
he had been punished. But, even admitting them to 
have understood it in the other sense, they must then, 
fi'om the very terras of the vote, have united ti)e idea 
of his being sent to tlie Tower with that of hin^ ex- 
pulsion, and considered his incapacity as the joint 
effect of both, f 

solved, That Robert Walpolc, Esq. having lcen_ this se-- 
sion of parliament expelled the Hous-e, wh-?, and is. incapu- 
ble of being elected a'member to serve in the present par- 
"iianficnt." There cannot he a stronger positive proof oi the 
treachery of the compiler, nor a stronger picsumi'five 
pi-oof that he was convinced that the vote, if duly re- 
cited, would overturn his whole argument. 

^Addressed to the Printer of the Public Adveriiter , 
?ir, Mail 22, 1771. 

fcry early in the debate vpon the decision of the 3liddl(scx 
flection, Unas nell observed by Junius, Hint the Bouse nt 
Commons had not only exceeded their boasted precrdi nt of the 
expulsion and subsequent incapacitation of Mr. JVaipole, but 
that they had not even adhered to it strictly as far as it ivcnt. 
After convicting Mr. Dyson of giving a false quotaiion from 
the journals, and having explained the purpose which that con- 
tcmptiblefraud n-as intended to answer he proceeds to state the 
vote itself by which Mr. WalpnWs supposed incapacity k-h? 
declared, viz- *' Resolved, Thai Robert Walpole, Esq. having 
been this session of Parliament comviitted a prisoner to the 
Tomer, and expelled t'lis House, for a high breach of trust in 
Ct^ fx.^intisn 9f I'ih o^ce, end n9tfiTi»ns cerrttptiont, n'htn sec-- 



J-UNIUS 91 

I do not mean to give an opinion upon the justice 
ftf the proceedings of the House of Commons with 
regard to Mr. Walpole ; but certainly, if I admitted 

rcfarv at war, was, and is incapable of being elected a mem- 
ber to serve in this present parliament ;" and thrn observes, that 
from the terms «f the vote, ire have no right to annex the in- 
' copacitatian to f/tc expulsion o??/.y,- for that, as the proposi- 
tion statids, it must ai ise tquaUi; from the expulsion and the 
commitment to the Tower. I believe, Sir, no man, nho knons 
U7iy thing of dialeciics, or who understands Eiiglish, rdll dis- 
pute the truth and, fair niss of this construction. But Junius 
has a great authority to support him, ivkich, to speak with the 
Duke of Graf ton, I atcidentiy ip.el with this morning in the 
course ofmtf rending. It contains an admonition, which can- 
not be repeated too often. Lord Sommers, in his excellent tract 
upon the Rights of the People, after reciting the votes of ths 
convention of the 2Mh January, 1689, viz. " That KingJavies 
the Second, having endeavoured to subvert the constiiutlon if 
this kingdom, by breaking the original contract behvecn King 
and People, and by the advice of Jesuits, and other wicked per- 
sons, hat-ing violated the fundamental laws, and having nntii- 
drann himself out of this kingdom, hath abdicated the goverr.- 
ment,&,j." — makes this observation uponit: " the word -Abui- 
cated re'atcs <o all the clauses foregoing, as well as to his de- 
serting the kingdom, or c/.vf thay would have been wholly i/i 
iviirt." And that there might be no prttence for cojifniing the 
abdication merely to the withdrawing. Lord Sommers further 
observes. That King James, by refusing to govern iis ac- 
cording to that law by which he held the- crown, did im- 
plicitly renounce hia title to it. 

If Junlus'3 construction tfthe vote againt Mr. Walpole Is 
now admitted (and, indeed, J cannot comprehend how it can 
honestly be disputed) the advocates v.j the House of Commons 
must either give up their precedent entirely, or be reduced to 
the necessity of maintaining one (f the grossest absurdities 
imaginable, viz. " That a commitment to the Tower is a con- 
stituent pad of, and contributes half, at least, to the hicapaci- 
iatioii of ike person who suffers it.^' 

I need not make you any excuse for endeavouring to keep 

alive the attention of the public to the decision cf the Middlt- 

1 sex chctioa. The more I consider it, the more J am con vinced, 

! that, as a fact, it is indeed highly injurious to the rights of 

I the people \ hut that, as a precedent, it is one of the most 

I dangerous that ever was I stablished against those who are to 

come after vs. Yet, I am so far a moderate man, that I verily 

believe the majority of the House of Commons, when iheypass- 

edtMsdan,.ierous vote, neither understood the question, or 

knew the consequence of what they were doing. Their motives 

mere rather despicable than criminal, in the extreme. One 

fir, r( ['ictj cedninl^ C^icf notfortsce, T^'^i' crt iun ridvccd h 



52 JUNIUS. 

their eens!ne to ho well fonndcd, I could no way avoid 
agreeing with them in the consequence they 'drew 
from it. I conld never have a doub(, inlaw or rea- 
son, that a man, convicted of a high breach of trust, 
and of a notorious con-uption, in the execution of a 
public ofHce, was, and ought to be, incapable of sit- 
ting in the same parliament. Far frdni attempting 
to invalidate that vote, 1 should have wished tliattije 
incapacity declared by it could legally have been 
continued for ever. 

Now, Sir, observe how forcibly the argument re- 
turn;-'. The House of Commons, upon the face of 
their proceedings, had the stronge>t motives to declare 
Mr. W^alpole incapable of being re-elected. 'I'nry 
IhotJghtsuch a man unwoithy to sit among them. To 
that point they proceeded, and no further; for they 
respected the rights of the people, while they asserted 
their own. They did not infer from Mr. Walpole's 
incapacity, that his opponent was duly electee! ; on 
the contrary, they declared Mr. Taylor " cot duly- 
elected, " and the election itself void. 

Such, however, is the precedent wliich my honest 
fi-iend assures us is strictly in point, to prove, that 
expulsion of itself creates an incapacity of being 
elected. If it had been so, the present Houseof Com- 
mons should at least have followed strictly the ex- 
ample before them, and should have stated to us, in 
the same vote, the crimes .'or which they expelled Mr. 
Wilkes: whereas they resolve simply. That " having 
been expelled, he was and is incapable." In this j-ro- 

svch a situation, that \fa member of tkc prrsmt House of Com- 
rnons rjtre to coidvcikin'se!/ ever so improjicrli/, itnd, in re- 
ality, deserve to be seitiback to his co?islituetits wiik a mark of 
disi^race, they winild not dare to expel him : because they knoro 
that the people, in crdi-r totry again the ^reat quesiion of right 
t*r to thwart an odious House of Commons, ivtuld probabltf 
overlook his Immediate unworthiness, and return the same per- 
son to parliament. Bnt, in time, the precedent mill gain 
strength ; a future House of' Commons -ivill have no such ap 
prehensions-, consequently, rvill not scruple to follow aprtc - 
dint which theji did not establish. The miser himself seldom 
livesto enjoy the fruit of his extortion, but his heir succeeds to 
him of course, and takes possession without censure. Ifo man 
expects hirn to make restitution -^ and, no matter for his title:, 
he lives quietly men the estate. 

PHILO JUNIUS. 



JUJS^IUS. 93 

cpeding, I am auUiorized to affirm, they have neltlic;- 
st;<tiil<', nor custom, nor reason, nor one single prece- 
dent to snpportthem. On the other side, there is, in- 
deed, a precedent so strongly in point, that all the en- 
clianted castles of miiii^erial magic fall before ir. In 
llieyear 1608 (a period which the rankest Tory dire? 
not except a;;ainst) Mr. WoUaston was expelled, re- 
elected, and admitted to take his seat in the same 
parliament. Tlie ministry have precluded tiiomselvcs 
from all objections drawn from the cause of his ex- 
pulsion; for they afiirm, absohitely, that expul- 
sion of itself, creates the di-^ability. Now, Sir, let 
sophistry evade, let falsehood assert, and impudence 
deny ; here stands the precedent : a land mark to di- 
rect us through a troubled sea of controversy, con- 
spicuous and unremoved. 

I have dwelt the longer upon the discussion of this 
point, because, in my opinion, it comprehends tlie 
whole question. The rest isnnworthy of notice. We 
are inquiring whether incapacity be, or be not, cre- 
ated by expulsion. In the cases of Bedford and Mol- 
den, the incapacity of the persons returned was mat- 
ter of public notoriety, for it was created by act of 
Parliament. But really. Sir, my honest friend's sup- 
posil.ion*are as unfavourable to him as his facts. He 
well knows tliat the clergy, besides that they are 
represented in common with their fellow subjects, have 
also a seperate parliament of their own; that their 
incapacity to sit in the House of Commons, has been 
confirmed by repeated decisions of that House ; and 
that the law of parliament declared by those decisions 
Ins been, for above two centuries, notorious and un- 
disputed. The author is certainly at liberty to fancy 
cases, and make whatever comparisons he thinks pro- 
per: his suppositions still continue as distant from 
fact, as his wild discourses are from solid argument. 

The conclusion of his book is candid to an extreme. 
He otf.^rs to grant me all I desire. He thinks he m;iy 
safely admit, that the case of Mr. Walpole makes di- 
rectly against him; for it seems he has one grand 
solution in peito for all difficulties. " If (says he) I 
were to allow all this, it will only prove that the law 
of election was different in Queen Anne's time from 
what it is at present." 



§4 JUNIUS. 

Thi?, indeed, is more than I expected. The pria- 
ciplc, I know, has been maintained in fact; btit I ne- 
ver expected to see it so formally declared. What 
can he mean!' Does he assume this language to 
satisfy the doubts of the people, or does he mean to 
rouse their indi;^nation p .\re the ministry daring 
enough to affirm, that the House of Commons have a 
light to make and unmake the law of Parliament at 
their pleasure? Does the law of parliament, which 
we are often told is the law of the land, does the 
common right of every euhject of the realm, depend 
upon an arbitrary, capricious vote of one branch of 
the legislature? The voice of truth and reason must 
be silent. 

The ministry tell us plainly, that this is no longer 
a question of right, but of power and force alone. 
What was law yesterday is not law to-day: and now, 
it seems, we have no better rule to live by, than the 
temporary discretion and fluctuating integrity of the 
House of Commons. 

Professions of patriotism arc become stale and ridi- 
culous. For my own part, I claim no merit from en- 
deavouring to do a service to my fellow-subjects. I 
have done it to the best of my understanding; and, 
'w^ithout looking for the approbation of other men, my 
conscience is satisfied. What remains to be done, 
concern? the collective body of the people. They are 
now to determine for themselves, whether they will 
firmly and constitutionally assert their right", or make 
an humble slaviMi surrender of them at the feet of 
the ministry. To a generous mind there cannot 
be a doubt. We owe it to our ancestors, to pre- 
serve entire those rights wliich they have delivered 
to our care. W'e owe it to our posterity, not to 
suffer their dearest inheritance to be destroyed. But, 
if it were possible for us to be insensible of these 
sacred claims, there is yet an obligation binding upon 
ourselves, from which nothing can acquit us; a per- 
sonal interest, which we cannot surrender. To alien- 
ate even Oisr own rights, would be a crime as much 
more enormous than suicide, as a life of civil security 
and freedom is superior to a bare existence: and if 
life be the boimty of heaven, we scornfully reject the 
noblest part of the gift, if we consent to surrender 
that certain r:i]e of living, without which the coivJl- 



JL.\lL:^. S.3. 

tjon of human nature is not only miserable but conr 
(emptible. JUNIUS. 



LETTER XXr. 

To the Printer of the Public Advertiser. 

SIR, August 22, 17Gf . 

I MUST beg of you to print a few lines in explanation 
of some passages in my last lettter, wiiich, 1 see, have 
boen misunderstood. 

1. When I said thnt the House of Commons never 
meant to found Mr .Walpole's incapacity on his ex- 
pulsion only, 1 meant no more than to deny the gene- 
ral proposition, that expulsion alone creates the in- 
capacity. If there be any thing ambiguous in the 
expression, I beg leave to explain it, by saying, that, 
i\) my opinion, expulsion neitiier creates, nor in any 
part coutrilnites to create the incapacity in question. 

2. 1 carefully avoided entering into the merits of Mr. 
Walpole's case. 1 did not inquire whether the House 
of ConuHons acted j^istiy, or whether they truly de- 
clared the law of parliament. My remarks went 
only to their apparent meaning and intention, as it 
stands declared in their own resolution. 

3. I never meant to affirm tliat a conmiitment to the 
Tower created a disqualification. On tiie contrary, 
I considered that idea as an absurdity, into which the 
Ministry must inevitably fall, if they reasoned right 
upon tlieir own principles. 

The case of Mr. ^V'oUaston speaVs for itself. The 
Ministry assert, thnt expulsion alone cre^-tes an abso- 
lute, complete incapacity, to be re-elected to sit ill 
the same Parliament. This proposition ihvy have 
uniformly maintained, without any condition or n^o- 
dification whatsoever. Mr. Wollasfon was expelled, 
re-elected, and admitted to take his seat iu the same 
Parliament. I leave it to t!)e pui.lio. to determine 
whether this be a plain matter of fact, or mere nou' 
»cnse or cleclam ilion-. JUiNiy?. 



P6. JUiNlUS. 



^m 



LETTER XXII, 

To the rrinter of the Public Advertiser. 

Septkmber 4, 17G9. 
Aeoumkxt aj^niiist Fact ; or, a new system of Po- 
iilical Logic, by whicii the JMini?try have demonstra- 
ted to the satisfaction of their friends, that expulsion 
alone cieates a complele incapacity to be re-elected; 
alias., That a subject of this Realm may be robbed of 
his common Right, by a Vote of the House of Com- 
mons. 

FinST FACT. 

Mr. IVollaston, in 16C8, was expelled, rc-clectcd^ and 
ftlmitted to take his seat. 

AUGUMSXT. 

As tin's cannot, conveniently be reconciled with our 
general proposition, it may be necessary to shift our 
ground, and look back to tlie cause of Mr. U'ollaston's 
expulsion. From t!)ence it will appear clearly that, 
'' although he was expelled, he had not rendered 
himself a culprit, too ignominious to sit in parlia- 
ment: and that, having resigned his employment, he 
was no longer incapacitated by law." Vide Serious 
Considerations., P^ge 23. Or thus: "The House, 
^ome.\s\\z.i inaccurately, nsed the v;ov(\. expelled; they 
should have called it a moijon." Vide Mwigo''s Case 
considered, page 11. Or. in short, if these arguments 
should be thought insuif^cient, wo may fairly deny 
the fact. For example; " I affirm that he vvas not 
re-elected. The same Mr. Wollaston, who was 
expelled, was not again elected. The same individu- 
al, if you please, walked iuto the House, and took his 
seat there; but the same person, in law, was not ad- 
mitted a member of that parliament, fiom which he 
liad been discarded." 

SECOND FACT. 

Mr. Walpole, having been committed to the To)ver, 
and expelled, for a high breachof trust, and notorious 
corruptionin a public ofp.ce, nets declared incapable, 4c. 

A.1GUMENT. 

From the terms of this vote, nothing can be more 



JEUNIUS. 97 

evident, than that the House of Commons meant to fix 
the incapacity npon the piniishuient, and not upon the 
crime; but, lest it should appear in a different light 
to weak, uninformed person?, it may be advisable to 
gut the resolution, and give it to the public, with all 
. possible solemnity, in the following terms, viz. " Re- 
solved, that Robert Walpole, Esq. having been that 
session of parliament expelled the House, was,_and is 
incapable of being; elected a member to serve in that 
present parliament.'' Vide Mungo, on the Use of 
Quotiitions, page I L 

N. B. The autljor to the answer to Sir William 
IVTeredith seems to have made use of Mungo's quota- 
lion; for in page 18, he assures us, " That the de- 
claratory vote of the 17th of February, 1769, was, in- 
deed, a literal copy of the resolution of the House in 
Mr. Walpole's case." 

THIRD FACT. 

His opponent, Mr. Taylor, having the smallest num- 
her of votes, at the next election, was declared not duly 
elected. 

ARGl'MKNT. 

This fact we consider as directly in point, to prove 
ihat Mr. Luttrell ought to be the sitting member, for 
the following reasons; "The burgesses of Lynn could 
draw no other inference from tliis resolution, butthis, 
that, at a future election, and in case of a similar re- 
turn, the House would receive the same candidate as 
duly elected, whom they had before rejected." Vide 
Postscript to Junixis, page 37. Of thus: " This, their 
resohition leaves no room to doubt what part_ they 
would have taken, if, upon a subsequent re-election of 
Mr. Walpole, there liad been any other candidate in 
competition with hi'n : for by their vote, they could 
have no other intention, than to admit such other 
candidate.'^ Vide Mungo'^s Case considered, page 39. 
Or, take it in this light. The burges.ses of Lynn hav- 
ing, in defiance of the House, retorted upon them a 
person whom they had branded with the most igno- 
minious marks of their displeasure, were thereby so 
well entitled to favour and indulgence, that the House 
could do no loss than rob Mr. Taylor of aright legal- 
ly vested in him, in crder t.h?.t ilia burgesies naglit lit: 



93 ju:nu;?. I 

appi bed of t'ue law of parliament; which law, (.we 
hoi;se took a very direct way ol" explaining to them, 
by resolving that the candidate, with t!ie fewest votes, 
vras not duly elected; " And' was nottiiismnch more 
pqnibihle, more in the spirit of that equal and substan- 
tial justice, which is the end of all law, than if they 
had violently adhered to the strict maxims of law p'*^ 
Vide Scrioits Considerations, page ^ and 31. "And, 
if the present lionse of Commons had chosen tV) 
follow the spirit of this resolution, they would have 
received and established the candidate with the few- 
est votes." Vide ansner to Sir IV. M. page 18. 

Permit nxz now, sir, to sliow you, that the wortjjy 
Dr. Blackstone sometimes contradict^ the minietry, 
as well as himself. The speech, without doors, as- 
serts, page 9th, *' That the legal effect of all incapa- 
city, founded on a judicial determination of a com- 
plete court, h precisely the same as that of an inca- 
pacity created by an act of parliament." Now for 
the Doctor, The lan\ and the opinion of ike jif^S^ 
arc not alnai/s converlible ttrms^ or one and the. saint 
thing ; since, it somtMmes may happen, that the judge 
■may mioiake the law. Civniiuentaries, vol. i. p. 71. 

The answer to 8ir VV, M. asser*-^, page 23, "that 
the returning officer is not a judicial, but a pnre'y 
ministerial officer. His return U no judicial act." 
At 'em again Doctor. The sheriff, in his judicial 
capacity, is to hear and determine causes oj forty shil- 
lings value, and under, in his county court. He has 
also a judicial poner m diveis other civil cases. He is 
likewise to decide the elections of knights of the shire 
(subject to the control of the House of Commons) to 
judge of -the qualification of voters, and to return 
such as he shall determine to be duly elected. — Vide 
Commentaries, vol. i. p. 332. 

What conclusion shall we draw from such facts, 
and such arguments, such contradiction?.'^ I cannot 
expre.';? my opinion of the present ministry more. 
exictiy than in the w..>rdd of Sir Richard Steele : 
That we are govern^-d by a set of drivellers whose 
folly takes away ail digtiily from distres-s and makes 
evcB cal.uuily ridicaious." 

PHILOJU^aUS, 



JUNIUS. 89 

LETTPm XX! 1 1. 

To his Grace the Duke of Bcdjord. 

;Mi Lord, Er.PTEjTBER 19, 17C9. 

' Yov are so little accustomed to receive any niarkg 
of respect or esteem from t!ie puhiic, that if, in the 
following lines, a compliment or expression of applause 
should escape me, 1 fear yon would consider it as a 
mockery of your established character, and, perhap?, 
an insult to your undorstandins- Yon have nice feel- 
ings, my Lord, if we may judge from your resentments. 
Cautious, therefore, of giving offence, uhereyon have 
so little deserved it, I shall leave the illustration of 
your virtues to other hands. Yotir friends have a 
privilege to play upon the easiness of your temper,'* 
or, possibly, they are heller acquainted with your 
good qualities than I ani. You have done good by 
stealth. The rest is upon record. You have still 
left ample room for .'peculation, when panegyric js 
exhausted. 

Y'ou are, indeed, a vrry considerable man. The 
highest rank ; a splendid fortune; and a name, glori- 
ous, till it was yours ; were suffi.ient to have support- 
ed you with n)eaner abilities tiian I think yon pos- 
Fe.^s. From the first, you derived a constitutional 
claim to respect ; from the second, a natural extensive 
authority: tiie last created a partial expectation of 
hereditary virtues. The use you have made of these 
iu!common advantages, might have been more honour- 
able to yourself, but could not be moie instructive to 
mankind. W'emay trace itin tiie veneration of your 
•country, the choice of your friends, and in theaccom- 
jjlishiuent of every sanguine hope which the ptiblie 
ii.isht have conceived from the illustrious name of 
Jl'.jssel. 

Ti)e eminence of your station gave yon a com- 
manding pros(iect of j'our duly. The road which 
led to honour was open to your view. V ou could 
not lose it by mistake, and you had no temptation to 
dispart f'loni it by design. C)mpare the natiind dig- 
nity and importance of the hig!ies^ peer of England ; 
tlie noble indt'pendence whicli Iip. might have main- 
tained in parliaincnl j and the real interest and respect 



10© JUNIUS. 

which he miglitliave acquired not only In parliamc 
but tlirough the whole kingdom ; compare these gk 
ous distinctions, with the ambition of holding a sh; 
in government, the emohunents of a place, the s 
of a borough, or the purchase of a corporation ; s 
though you may not regret tlie virtues which cre.i 
respect, you may see with anguish how niTich r^ 
importance and authority you have lost. Consiti < 
the character of an independent virtuous Duke 
Bedford ; iinagine what he might be in this country 
tiien reflect ona moment upon what you are. If it ■: 
jios.-ihle for me to withdraw my attention fromili 
fact, 1 wilt tell you in the theory what such a m ^ 
migiit be. 

Conscious of hisown weight and importance, hi? r< 
duct in parliament would be directed by nothing i 
the constitutional diity of a peer. He would consii 
himself as a guardian of the law5. Willing tosnppt 
the just measures of governmerit, but determined 
observe the conduct of the minister wil!) suspicici i 
he would oppose the violence of faction with as mn 
firmness as the encroachments of prerogative. YU 
would be as little capable of bargaining with t.u 
minister for places for himself, or his dependants, as ■> 
descending to mix himself in the intrigues of oppo '; 
tion. Whenever an important question called fori 
opinion in parliament, he would be heard by the mr 
profligate minister with deference and respect, fc 
authority would either sanctify or disgrace the me 
sures of government. The people would look up • 
him as their protector: and a virtuous prince won 
have one honest man in his dominions, in whose i ' 
tegrity and judgment he might safely confide If' 
should be the will of Providence toafllict* him wii 
a domestic misfortune, he would submit to the strol 
with feeling, but not without dignity. He wou 
consider the people as his children, and receive 
generous, heart-felt consolation, in the sympathikir, 
tears and blessings of his country. 

Your 'Grace may probably discover something moi 
intelligible in the negative part of this illustrioi 

*.The Dukebau lately lost his CDly eon by a fallfror^ Y 
horse. :- ■> '>■:.'• '•>-^'' • 



JUNltTS: I or 

pjiactrr. The man I have descilbea would never 
'csjtute his dignit}' in parliamcnl, by an indecent 
olcnce either m opposing or defending a minister. 
, »rould not at one moment rancoroiisly persecute, 
' lotlier basely cringe to the favourite of hi^ Sove- 
After outraging the royal dignity with pe- 
tory conditions, little short of menace and hostili- 
e would never descend to the humility of solicit- 
ug ;n int<?rview* with tlie favourite, and of offering 
01 -cover, at any price, the honour of his ^^iend^hip. 
f'.. igh deceived, perhaps, in his youth, he would not,- 
';!■' ighthe course of a long life, have invariably cho- 
' lis friends from amoog the most profligate of 
.ind. His own honour would have forbidden liim 
mixing his private pleasures or conversation 
jockeys, gamesters, blasphemers, gladiators, or 
Ki >ons. lie would then liave never felt, much les.* 
< d he have submitted to, the dishonest necessity 
jawing in the interests and intrigues of liis dopend- 
ot supplying their vices, or relieving their beg- 
at t'.ie expense of his country. He'would not,- 
ia> betrayed such ignorance, or such contempt, of 
he ' onstitution, as openly to avow, in a court of jns- 
the purchascf and sale of f\ borough. He would 
lave thought it consistent with his rank in t!ie 
or even with hix personal importance, to be the 
tyrant of a little corporation.! He would never 
been insulted with virtues which he had labour- 
extinguish ; nor suflFered the disgrace of a mortl- 
defeat, which has made him ridiculous and con- 
ible even to the few by whom he was not detest- 
.. I reverence the afllictions of a good man; bin 
arrows are sacred. But how can we take part iu 

- 't this iniervierv, nkich passed at the koitst of the hit* 
l;;lintoune. Lord Rate told the Duke, that kenasdctcr- 
ncver to have, any connexion rcith a man nho had so 
bet railed him. 

an cn^wcT in Chancery, in a suit against kim to recover 
sum, paid him by a person whom he had undertaken to 
to ptirliament for one 'f his Grace's boroughs, he jvas 
led to repay the money. 

^Bedford, when tht tyrant was held in such contempt 
testation, that, in order to deliver themseh-6ffr07n hlyir 
bnitted a great number of strangers to the freedom. To 
as defeat trnly ri'iculowi, h" tried his whole strens,in 
I Mr. liorijf, and nus beaten ufon hit ana gToana.. 
E 



102 JUNIUS. 

the distresses of a man whom we can neither lovft «• 
esteem; or feel for a calamity of which he himself is 
insensible;' Where was the father's heart, when he 
could look for, or find, an immediate consolation for 
the loss ol an only son, in consultations and bargains 
(or a place at court, and even in the misery of ballot- 
ing at the India House? 

AdmittinjT, then, that yon have mistaken or desert- 
ed those lioiiourable principles which ought to have 
directed your conduct; admitting that you have as 
little claim to private affection as to [)uhlic esteem, 
let us see, with what abilities, with what degree of 
judgment, you have carried your own system into 
execution. A sreatman, inthe success, and even in the 
magnitude of liii? crimes, finds a rescue from contempt. 
Your Grace is every way unfortunate. Yet J will not 
look back to those ridiculous scenes, by which, in your 
earlier days, you thought it an hoiiour to be distin- 
guished ;*' tbe recorded sttijies, the public infamy, 
your own sufferings, or Mr. Rigby's fortitude. These 
events undoubtedly left an impression, thougli not 
npon your mind. To sucli a mind, it may, perhaps, 
hit a pleasure to reflect, that there is hardly a corner 
ofany of his M ijr-sty's kingdoms, except Prance, in 
whicli, at onp tuue or other, your valuable life has 
tiot been i;i danger. Amiable m?in ! we see and ac- 
knowledge the protection of i*rovidence, by wJiich. 
you have so often escaped the personil detestation o 
your fellow-subjects, and are fctill reserved for the 
pu!)lic justice of yoiu' countr}'. 

V^our liistory begins to be important at that auspi- 
cious period at wliicli you were deputed to repre- 
^-nUhfJ Earl of Bute nt the court of Versailles. It 
was an honoiirableolfice, and executed with tliesame 

*■ Mr. Flf'lon Runphrn, n country ailnmey, korsen>htf>pfd 
'fhe Dake, wiih eqitat justice, sevfritii, and pe-rtevi ranee, on the 
cintrs?, at Litchfuhl. Rijliy ar.d Lord Trentham n-crc aho 
ntdqr.Hed in a viost exemplary tnnr.ncr- Thlt savr. risf to the. 
folimviiig stori) : vhc n. the. Intc Kins: heard that Sir Edwurd 
^Mawkc kadgivm Vif. French a (irubbing. kis 7najcdu, v-hohad 
T.I ver rrccivid that kind of c'lCstiscTncnt, nai pleturd to etk 
Lord Che.ittirfi.ld Hit meaning of t'le rvord- " .V'V," «iiys 
Lord Chcsterfirld " the nienni/is; of the rvord. — But here aoniti 
t'lfl Uukc r.f' Bedford, ni;v jY b. iter able to etrf^ain it toyoiiT 
Mj^::d9 tkiiH I am."'' \ 



JliUNttJS. I«8 

fpiiit with which it was accerted. Your patrons 
wanted an ambussador who would submit to make con- 
cessions, without daring to insist upon any honoura- 
ble condition for his sovereign. Their business re- 
3uircd a man who had as little feeling for his own 
ignity, as for the welfare of his country ; and they 
found him in the firi?t rank of the nobility. Bellcisle, 
Goree, Guadaloupe, St. Lucia, Martinique, the Fish- 
ery, and the Havanna, are glorious monuments of 
yourGrace's talents for negotiation. My Lord, we 
are too well acquainted witliyour pecuniary charac- 
ter, to think it possible that so many public sacrifices 
should have been made without some private compen- 
sations. Your conduct carries with it an internal 
evidence, beyond all the proofs of a court of justice. 
Even the callous pride of Lord Egremont was alarm- 
ed.* He saw and felt his own dishonour in corres- 
ponding with you : and there certainly was a momei>t 
•at wiiich he meant to have resisted, had not a fatal 
lethargy prevailed over his faculties, and carried all 
iense and memory away with it. 

I will not pretend to specify the secret terms on 
which you were invited to support! an administration 
which Lord Bute pretended to leave in full pos .ession 
of their ministerial authority, and perfectly masters 
pf themselves. He was not of a temper to relinquish 
power, though he retired from employment. Stip- 
ulations were certainly made between your Grace and 
him, and certuuly violated. After two years.' sub- 
mission, 3'ou thought you had collected strength guffi- 
cient to control his influence, and that it was vour 
turn to be a tyrant, because you had bet n a slave. 
When you found yourself mistaken in your opinion of 
your gracious master's firmness, disappointment got 
the better of all your humble discretion, and carried 
you to an excess of outrage to his person, as distant 
from true spirit as from all decency and respect.| Af- 

*This man, notwithstanciing his pride and Tory principle?, 
had some E«s;lisb stuifiii him. Upon an official letter he 
wrote to the Uuke of Bedford, the Duke desired tnbe re- 
called, and it wag with the utmost dilEculty that Lord Bute 
oould appease him. 
t Mr. Grenvilie, Lord Halifax, and Lord Egrenoont. 

'". The Mrnivtry bavin'^ eDdGavoeHedt^e-scliiiie tire IlDWr 



104 JUNIUS. 

ter robhinz him' of the rights of a king, you woiild 
not permit him to preserve the honour of a gentleman. 
It was then Lord Weymouth was nominated to Ire- 
land, and despatched (wewell reraemberwith what 
indecent hurry) to plunder the treasury of the first 
fruits of an employraeut, which you well knew he 
was never to execnte.* 

This sudden declaration of war against the favour- 
ite, miglit have given you a momentary merit with the 
public, if it had either been adopted upon principle, or 
maintained with resolution. Without looking back 
to all your former servility, we need only observe 
> your subsequent conduct, to see upon what motives 
you acted. Apparently united with Mr. Grenville, 
j'ou waited until Lord Rockiagham's feeble adminis- 
tration should dissolve in its own weakness. The 
moment their dismission was suspected, the moment 
yon perceived that another system was adopted in 
the closet, you thought it no disgrace to return to 
'- your former dependence, and solicit once more the 
Inendship of Lord Bute. You begged an interview, 
at which he had spirit enough to treat you with con- 
tempt. 
- It would now be of little use to point out by what 
a train of weak, injudicious measures, it became ne- 
cessary, or was thought so, to call you back to a 
share in the administration. f The friends, whom you 
• did not in the least instance desert, were not of a 
-character to add strength or credit t« government: 
' and, at that time, your alliance with the Duke of 
Graften, was, I presume, hardly foreseen. We must 
look for other stipulations to account for that sudden 
resolution of the closet, by which three of your de- 

ai?er out of the Regency Bill, the Earl of Bute determined 
to ri(smis.9 tbeui. Upon this, the Duke of Bedford demand- 
ed an audienre of the ; reproached him in plain terms 

*ith his duplicity, baseness, falsehood, trea'-hery, and 
Hypocrisy; repeatedly gave him the lie, aad left him in 
convulsions. 

*ne received three thousand pounds for plate and equip- 
age money. 

+ When Earl Gower was appointed President of the 
Council, the King, with his usual sincerity, assured him, 
that he had not had one happy raomeat 8i.ace the Duke- of/ 
Bedford left him. 1 



JUNIUS. 105 

il»enHiints* (whose character?, I thinV, eannot be less 
respected than they are) were advanced to offices, 
through which you might again control the minister, 
and probably engross the whole direction of atFairs. 

The possession of absolute power is now once more 
within your reach. The measures you have taken 
to obtain and confirm it, are too gross to escape the 
eyes of a discerning judicious Prince. His palace ii 
besieged; the lines of circumvailation are drawing 
round him ; and unless he finds a resource in his own 
activity, or in the attachment of the real friends of 
his family, the best of Princes must submit to the con- 
finement of a state prisoner, until your Grace's deathly 
or some less fortunate event, shall raise the siege. 
For tlie present, you may safely resume that stvle of 
insult and noenace, which even a private gentleman 
cannot submit to hear without being contemptible. 
Mr. M'Kenzie's history is n«t yet forgotten ; and 
you may find precedent* enough of the mode in which 
an imperious subject may signify liis pleasure to his 
sovereign. Where will this gracious Monarch look 
for assistance, when the wretched Grafton could for- 
get his obligations to his Master, and desert him for 
such a hollow alliance with such a man as the Duke 
of Bedford. 

Let us consider you, then, as arrived at the summit 
of worldly greatness; let us suppose that all your 
plans of .avarice and ambition are accomplished, and 
your most sanguine wislies gratified, in the fear at 
well as the hatred of the peojlej can age itst^lf forget 
that you are no'A- in liie last act of life;^ Can gray 
hairs make folly veney able p And i.-: there uo period 
to be reserved for meditation tu)d retirement :' For 
shame ! ray Lord, let it not be recorded of yoii, that 
the latest momenta of your lile were dedic. tt^d to the 
same uriwortlij" pursuits, Uiesami- bujsy ajil-iliou.-, in 
which your youth a.jd UMnuood were exnauated. 
Consider that although vo;i caiuiot disgrace your 
forme/' life, you a; *» viola tin' the character of age, 
and evn^sini; the imijoteiit inibecility, after you have 
lost the vijon:*, of t!if ;;<»ssion«. 

Yooc f.'-ieuds will ask, wjrhaps, ^Vl^ithcr shall 
this unhappy old man retire]' Can he rcmaio ia the 

* Lords Gower, Weymouth, aad SaHdwich. ' 



metropoHs, where bis life has been so often threateneid, 
and his palace so often attacked? If he returns to 
Woodburn, scorn and mockery await him. He must 
♦weate a yolitude round his estate, if he wonld avoid 
blje faceof reproach and deri?ion. At Plymouth, his 
destruction would be more than probable; at Exeter, 
inevitable. No honest Englishman will ever forget 
bis attachment, nor any hone?t Scotchman forgive 
his treachery, to Lord Bute, At every town he ea- 
ters, he must^chaugehis liveries and name. Which 
«?ver way he flies, the hue and cry of the country pur- 
sues him. 

' In another kingdom, indeed, the blessings of his 
administration have been more sensibly felt ; his vir- 
tues better imderstood ; or, at worst, they will not, 
for him alone, forget their hospitality. As well might 
Vtrrcs have returned to Sicily. You have twice es- 
•aped, my Lord ; beware of a third experiment. The 
indignation of a whole people, plundered, insulted^ 
and oppressed, as they have been, will not always be 
disappointed. 

It is in vain, therefore, to shift the scene. You can 
no more fly from your enemies than from yourself. 
Persecuted, abroad, you look into your own heart 
for consolation, and 6nd nothing hut reproaches and 
despair. But, my Lord, you may quit the field of 
business, though not the field of danger, and though 
you cannot be safe, you may cease to lie ridiculous, I 
iear j'ou have listened too long to the advice of those 
pernicious friends, with whose interests you have 
sordidly united your own, and for whom you have 
sacrificed every thing that ought to be dear to a man 
of honour. They are still base enough to encourage 
the follies of your age, as i\\ey once did the vices of 
your youth. As liltle acquainted with the rules of 
decorum as with the laws of morality, they will not 
suffer you to profit by experience, nor even to consult 
the propriety of a bad character. Even now they tell 
you, that life is no niore than a dramatic scene, ia 
which the hero should preserve his consistency to the 
last; and that, as you lived without virtue, yott 
should die without repeotancc. 

JUNIUS; 



JUNIUS. 167 

LETTER XXIV. 

To Junius. 

Sir, Skptf.mbkr M, 1*09. 

Havtkr, accidentallf seen a rcpul))ication ofyotJX 
T»Hters, wherein you hive been pleased to assert, thai 
I had 5oW the companions' of my «iiccesi5, 1 am ap-jiri 
obliged to declare the said assertion to be a most in- 
famous and malicious falsehood; and I apain call 
upon you to stand forth, avow yourself, and prove 
the charge. If yon can make it out to the satisfaction 
of any one man in the kingdom, I will be content to 
be thought the worst man in it ; if you do not, what 
must the nation think of you !' Party has nothing tf> 
do in this affair : you have made a personal attack 
upon my honour, defamed me by a most vile calum- 
ny, which might pos>ibly have sunk into oblivion, 
had not such uncommon pains been taken to renew 
and perpetuate this scandal, chip6y, because it hag 
been told in good language ; for I give you full credit 
for your elegant diction, well turned periods, and 
attic wit; but wit is oftentimes false, though it may 
appear brilliant ; which is exactly the case of your 
wliole performance. But, Sir, I am obliged, in the 
most serious manner, to accuse you of being guilty of 
falsities. You have said the thing that is not. To 
Mipport your story, you have recourse to the follow- 
ing irresistible argument : " Von sold the ctnnpan- 
ions of your victory, because, when the 16th regiment 
was given to yau., you was silent. The conclusion is 
inevitable." 1 believe that, anch deep and acule 
reasoning could only come from such an extraordina- 
ry writer as Junius. But, unfortunately for you, the 
premises, as well as the conclusion, are absolutely 
fal?c., Many applicatinns have been made to tlic 
Ministry, on the subject of the Manilla ransom, since 
the time of my being colonel of that regiment. .\h 
I have for Bomeyears quitted London, fwasobligrcl 
to have recourse to the Honourable Colonel Mon^on, 
and Sir Samuel Cornish, to negotiate for me. In lli« 
lastantnmn, I personally delivered a mrmorial to llu» 
Earl of SheibtM-ne, at his seat in Wiltshire. As you 
have told us of your importance, that you are a pei ' 



m 31^ NWS, 

pon of ranTi and fortvine, and above a cnrumoo hnhe, 
you may, in all proI)abi!i(_v, be not unknown to 
]»is Lordship, who can satl.-fy you of the truth of 
what 1 say. But 1 shall now take the lihorty, Sir, to 
seize your battery, and turn it against yourself. If 
your puerile and tinsel logic could carry the least 
weight or cnnvii-tion with it, how must you stand 
affacted by the inevitable conclusion, as you are 
pleased to term it? According to Junius, silence is 
Ruilt. In many of the public papers, you have been 
culled, in the most direct and offensive terms, a liar, 
and a coward. When did you reply to these foul 
accusations? You have been quite silent, quite 
chop-fallen: therefore, because you was silent, the 
nation has a vij^ht to pronounce you to be both a liar 
and a coward, from your own argument. But, Sir, 
! will give you fair play; willafFird you an oppor- 
timity to wipe off the first appellation, by desiring 
the proofs of your charge against me. Produce them ! 
To wipe off the last, produce yourself. People can- 
not bear any longer 3'our lion's skin, and the despica- 
ble imposture of the old Roman name ivhich you 
have affected. For the future assume the name of 
some mod:'rn* bravo and dark assassin : bt your ap- 
pellation have some affinity to your practice. But if 
I must perish, Jmiius, let me perish in the face oi 
day; be for once a gencroiis and open en^my. i 
allow, that Gothic appeals to cold iron are r^o bettfr 
proofs of a man's honesty -^nd veracity, than hot iron 
and b'.irnjnjj plotigh shares are of female chastity ; 
Tjiit a soldier's honour is as delicate as a woman's; it 
must not be suspected. You have dared to throw 
more than a suspicion upon mine : you cannot but 
inow the cousequences, which even the meekness of 
Christianity would pardon me for, after the injury 
you have done me. 
^ WILLIAM DRAPER. ^ 

* "Was Brutus an ancient bravo and dark assassin 1 Or 
does hir W. O. '-hiuk it crimi.ial t» st«b a tyrant to the 

"heiirt. 



LETTER XXV. 

Hsret lateri lethal is aruudo. 
To Sir Willidm Draper, Knight ofthtBaih. 

«m, SEPTEMfiER 25, 176r>. 

After bo long an interval, I did not expect to sec 
the debate revived between us. My answer to your 
last letter ehall be short; for 1 write to yavi Avith re- 
luctance, and I hope we shall now conchide'our cor- 
respondence for ever. 

Had you been, originally, and without provocation, 
attacked by an, anonymous writer, you would have 
some right to demarid his name. But in tins cause 
yon are a volunteer. You engaged in it with the un- 
premeditated gallantry of a soldier. You were con- 
tent to set your name in opposition to a man who 
would probably continue in concealment. You un- 
derstood the terms upon which we were to correspond, 
and pare at least a tacit assent to them. After vo- 
luntarily attacking; me, under the cliaracter of Junius, 
what possible right have you to know me under any 
other i' Will you forgive me if I insinuate to you, that 
you foresaw some honour in the apparent spirit of 
coming forward in person, and that you were not 
quite indifferent to the display of your literary quali- 
fications i' 

You cannot but know, that the republication of my 
letters was no more t!r.)n a catch -penny contrivnnce 
of a printer, ir) which it was impossible I should he 
concerned, and for which I am in no way answerable. 
At the same lime I wish you to understand, that if I 
do not take the trouble of reprinting these papers, it 
is not from any fear of giving cffence to Sir William 
Draper. 

^ Vour rennrks upon a signature adopted merely for 
di«itiuction, nre unworthy of notice: but when you 
tell me 1 have suhmiUed to be called a liar and a 
coward, 1 must ask you in my turn, whether you 
seriously tliiok it in any way incunibeut on me Xo 
take notice of the silly invectives of every simjiletou 
who writes in a newspaper; and what opinion you 
would have conceived of my discretion, if I t\v\ 



lU) JUNIUS. 

£;ifft?red myself to be the dupe of so shallow ns arti- 
fice P 

Your appeal to the sword, though consistent enough 
*"ith your lateprofesfiiori, will neithef prove your ia- 
viocence, nor clear you from suspicion. Your com- 
plaints with regard to the Manilla ransom, were, for 
» considerable time, a distress to government. You 
were appointed (greatly out of your turn) to tllf 
command of a regiment; and during that administra- 
tion we heard no more of Sir William Draper. The 
facts of which I speak tnay, indeed, be variously ac- 
counted for J buttiiey are too notorious to be denied j 
iind I think you mi<^ht have learned at the university, 
that a false conclnsiod iyan error in argument, not a 
breach of veracity. Your solicitations, i doubt not, 
were renewed under another admini.^tration. Admit- 
tioa; tlje (avA, I fear an indifierent person would only 
infer from it, that experience had made you acquaint- 
ed with the benefits of complaining., liemember, Sir, 
ti)at you have yourself confessed, that, considering the 
ffiiical situation of this country, the Ministry are in the 
right to tempoHse with Spain. This confession reduces 
J- on to an unfortunate dilemma. By renewing your 
eoUcitations, yon must either mean to force your 
country into a war at a most unseasonable juncture, 
or, having no view or expectation of that kind, that 
you look for nothing but a private compensation ta 
yaursclf. 

As to me, it is by no means necessary that 5 should 
he exposed to the resentment of the worst and the most 
powerful men in this country, though 1 may be indif- 
ffrent about yours. Though you would fight, there 
fivf^ others wlio would assassinate. 

But, afuT all. Sir, where is the injury? You assure 
mo, tii.it my logic is puerile and tinsel; that it carries^ 
pot t!:e least weight or conviction ; that my premises 
ijre fal~p, -uid my conclusions absurd. Ifthisbea just 
dr«Pcri,)tion of me, how is it possible for sucii a writer 
to di turb yoi.r peace of mind, or to injure a character 
go weliestablifhpd as yours p Take care, birVVilliam,. 
liow you indulge this unruly temper, le«t the world 
should suspect that conscience has some share in your 
iosentineut?. ' You have more to fear from the trea- 
chery of your own passion?, than from any rnalcvo- 
Jinec of laii^e. 



JUiNlLS. 11 

V. .1 heliwe, S-ir, you will never know me. A con«l- 
dirahle time must certainly elapse l)fifore wfe are per 
tonally acquaintod. , Yo;i need not, however, rtjict 
the delay, or suffer an apprehension, that any length 
of time can restore you to ti-.e Christian meeknes? of 
yonr temper, and disappoint your present indignation. 
If I iinderstaiid your character, there is in yoia- own 
breast a repository, in which your resentments inay 
be safely laid up for future occiision?, and preserved 
without the hazard of diminution. The odia in Ion- 
gum jaccns, qua recondcret, auctcquc proincrct, I 
tliougfit had only belonged to the worst character 
of antiquity. The text is in Tacitus: you know bet! 
where to look for the commentary. JUNIUS. 



LETTER XXVI. 

A Word at parting to Junius. 

*siR, October 7, 173? 

As you have not favoured rae with either of the e\.- 
planations demanded of you, I can have nothing more 
to say to you upon ray own account. Your mercy to 
me, or tenderness for yourself, has been very great. 

* Measures, and not men, is the common cant of aOccted 
moc]ei-«tion ; a base counterfeit language, ("ahricated by 
knave:^, and made curreut among lnolii. Pueh gentle cm 
sine is not fitted to the present ilegcne rat estate of society 
What does it avail to expose the at surd contrivance, or 
pernicious tendency of measures, if the man xvlio advises, 
or executes, shall be suKered. not only to escape with inv 
punity, but even to preserve bis power, and insult us vrit'i 
the favour of his Soveiei^n. I would reccmtiiend to t'l- 
reader the whole of Mr. Pope's letter to Doctor Arhuthno' , 
dated July 26th, 1734, from which the followiij;; is an e\, 
tract : " To reform, and not to chastise, I am afraid is im- 
possihle ; and that the best precepts, as well as the 1 est 
law.^, would prove of small use, it there were no example* 
to eri:C!ce them. To attack vices in the al«tract without 
touching perscjis, may be safe fightins indeed, but it is 
fighting -with shadows. My greatest comfort and encou- 
ragement to proceed has been to pee, that those who have 
po aharae, and no icar of any tliisg else, have appeared 
toucketi by wy satires." 



U.2 -Ji?NIU8. 

The publk will judge of your motives. Ifyonp exc^s* 
of modesty forbids you to produce cither the proofs or 
yourself, I will excuse it. Take courage; 1 have not 
the temper of Tiheriu?, any more than the rank of 
power. You, indted, are a tyrant of another sort; 
'And, upon your political bed of torture, can excruci- 
ate any subject, from a first mioibter down to ?uch a 
§rub or butterfly as mysell; like another detested 
tyrant of antiquity, can make the wretched sufferer 
€t the bed, if the bed will not fit the sufferer, by dis- 
jointing or tearing the trembling limbs, until they are 
•tretched to its extremity. But courage, constancy, 
and patience, under tonnents, have sometimes caused 
the most hardened nions-ters to relent, and forgive the 
object of their cruelty. You, Sir, are determined to 
try ail that human natnre can endure, until she ex- 
jiires; else, was it possible that you could be the au- ' 
thor of that most inhuman letter to the Duke of Bed- 
ford, 1 have read v.ith astonishment and horror? 
Where, Sir, where were the feelings of yonr own heart, 
r.heq you could upbraid a most affectionate fatheF 
withthelossof his only and most amiable son p Read 
over again those cruel lines of yours, and let them 
v/ring yoiir very soul! Cannot political questions be 
discussed, witliout descending to the most odious per- 
ionalities? Must you go wantonly out of your vvny 
to torment declining age, because the Duke of Bed- 
ford-may have quarrelled with those whose cause and " 
politics you espouse? For shame! For shame! Ai ■' 
you have spoke7i daggers to him, you may justly 
dread the use of them against your own breast, did a 
wa-nt of courage, or of noble sentiments stimulate him 
to such mean revenge. He is above it; he is brave. 
Do yoi! fancy tiiat your own base arLs havt> infected 
our whole island!^ But yoiii" own reflections, yonr own 
conscience, muft, and "ill, if you have any spark of 
humanity rcmainirsg, give him mopt anijile vengeance, 
TS'ot all tite poiVc-r of U'ord.% with whiclj yo«i are so 
j^iaced, will cvo.r wash out, or even palliate, this foul 
Blot in your character. J hare not time at present to 
ciissei't .vour k-ttei' so njh)utely es f could wish ; bat I 
Viiil be bold enough to say, that it i."- (as to reason and 
j'.rgument) tho mort extraordinwy piat-e of ft oridiiii- 
pHence that w^i< ever imposed upon the eyes and ears 
or the io& credfiio'.re n ad tl'lndcd ^Bok it avcrires t"!«r 



JUNIUS. lis 

Bulce ©f Bedford of high treason. Upon what foua« 
djition? Veil tell us, " the Duke's pecuniary charac- 
ter tn.ikes it more than probable, that he could not 
have made such sacrifices at the peace without some 
private compensations; that his conduct carried with 
it an interior evidence, beyond all the legal proofs of 
a court of justice." 

My academical education, Sir, bids me tell you, 
that it. is necessary to establish the truth of yoju" first 
proposition, before yon presume to draw inferences 
from it. First prove the avarice, before you make 
the rash, hasty, and most wicked conclusion. This 
father, Junius, whom you eall avaricious, allowed 
that son eight thousand pounds a year. Upon his 
mo?t unfortunate death, which your usual good na- 
ture took care to remind him of, he greatly increased 
the jointure of the afflicted lady his widow. Is this 
avarice .f' Is this doing good by stealth.'' It is upon re- 
cord. 

If exact order, metliod, and true economy as a 
master of a family; if splendour and just magnifi- 
cence, without wild waste and thoughtless extrava- 
gance, may constiUite the character of an avaricious 
Man, the Duke is guilty. But, for a moment, let us 
admit that an ambassador may love money too much, 
Avhat proof do you pive that he has taken any to be- 
tray his country ? Is it hearsay, or the evidence of 
letters, or ocular; or the evidence of those concerned 
in this black affair? Produce your authorities to the 
public. It is a most impudent kind of sorcery, to at- 
tempt to blind us with the smoke, without convincing 
us tliat the fire has existed. You first In-and him with 
a vice that he is free from, to render him odious and 
suspected. Suspicion h the foul weapon with which 
you make all your chief attacks; with that you stab. 
But sliall one of the first subjricts of the realm be 
ruined in his fame, shall even his life be in constant 
t' inger, from a charge built upon such sandy founda- 
tions p. Must his house be besieged by lawless ruffians, 
liii Journies impeded, and even the asylurr- of an altar 
be insecure from assertions so base and false .^ Potent 
as be is, the Duke is amenable to justice; if guilty, 
pfinldhablft. The parliament is the high and soleras 
frihuual for n)'\ttcrs of Mich great moment; (o that be 
tlipy jpnliBtitted. Bat 1 hopp, ^Iso. that sotae BotS';'e 



114 lUPJIUS. 

will be taken of, and some punishment inflicted iipou, 
false accusers; especially upon such, Junius, who arc 
wilfully false. In any truth I will agree even with 
Junius; will agree with him that it is highly unbeco- 
ming the dignity of Peers to tamper with boroughs. 
Aristocracy is ^s fatal as democracy. Our con^'titu- 
tion admits of neither. It loves a King, Lords, and 
Commons really chosen by the unbought suffrages of 
a free people. But if corruption only sliifts hands, if 
the wealthy commoner gives the bribe instead of the 
potent peer, is the state better served by this ex- 
change p Is the real emancipation of the borough 
effected, because new parchment bonds may possibly 
supersede the old ? To say t!ie truth, wherever such 
practices prevail, they are equally criminal to, and 
destructive of, our freedom. 

^ The rest of your declamation is scarce worth con- 
sidering ; except for the elegance of the language. 
Like Hamlet, in the play, you pioduce two pictures: 
you tell us, that one is not like the Duke of Bedford ; 
tlien you bring a most hideous caricature, and tell us 
of the resemblance; but multum abludit imago. 

All your long tedious accounts of the mini>terlal 
quarrels, and the intrigues of the cabinet, are reduci- 
ble to a few short lines; and to convince you. Sir, 
■that I do not mean to flatter any minister, either past 
or present, these are my thoughts : they seem to have 
acted like lovers, or children ; have *pouted, quarrel- 
led, cried, kished, and been friends again, as the ob- 
jects of desire, the ministerial rattles have been put 
into their hands. But such proceedsngs are vrry un- 
worthy of the gravity and dignity of a great nation. 
We do not want men of abilities, but we have wanted 
steadiness: we want unanimity; your letters, Juiiiu?, 
will not contribute thereto. You may one (Uy expire 
by a flame of your own kindling. But it is my humble 
Oi.'in!on, that lenity and moderation, pardon and ob- 
livion, will disappcHit tlie efforts of ail tiie ^editions 
in the land, and extinguish their wide-spieading fires. 
I have lived with this sentiment; with t!iis I shall die. 
WILLIAM DRAPER. 

* 'Sir William gives tn a pleasant accmtnt of men,nho, in kis 
»pinien at least, er« t^e best qvalificd to govern «n crnpije. 



JUNIUS. 115 

LETTER XXVI r. 

To the Printer of the Public Jdvertiser. 

giB, October 13, 1769. 

If Sir William Draper*sbed be a bed of torture, he 
has made it for himself. I shall never interrupt his 
repose. Having changfed the subject, there are parts 
of his last letter not undeserving of a reply. Leaving 
his private character and conduct out of the question, 
I shall consider him merely in the capacity of an au- 
thor, wliose labours certainly do no discredit to a 
newspaper. 

We say, in common di>:course, that a man may he 
bis own enemy ; and the frequency of the factniakes 
the expression intelligible. But that a man should be 
the bitterest enemy of big friends, implies a contra- 
diction of a peculiar nature. There is something in 
it which cannot be conceived without aconfusion of 
ideas, nor expressed without a solecism in language. 
Sir William Draper is still that fatal friend Lord 
Granby found him. Vet, lam ready to do justice 
to his generosity ; if, indeed, it be not something 
more than generous, to be the voluntary advocate <w 
men, who Uiiuk themselves injured by bis as-^istance, 
and to consider nothing in the cause he adopts but 
the difficulty of defending it. 1 thought, however, he 
bad been better, read in the history of , the human 
heart than to compare or confound the tortures of 
the body with those of the mind. He ought to have 
known, though perhaps it might not be his interest 
to confes>, that no outward tyranny can reach the 
mind. If conscience plays the tyrant, it would be 
greatly for the benefit of the world tliat she -were- 
more arbitrary, and far less placable, than some men 
find her. 

But it seeinsJ have outraged the feelings of a fa- 
ther's heart. Am I, indeed, so Injudicious.'' Docs Sir 
William Draper think I would have hazarded my 
credit with a generous nation, by so gross a violation 
of the laws of humanity ? Does he think I am so lit- 
tle acquainted with the first and noblest character- 
i4ic of Englishmen ? Or, how will he reconcile such 
folly vi'ilh an understandiogso fiiUo* artifice as mine ? 



116 JUNIUS* 

Had he been a father, he would have becu but little 
•(fended with the severity of the reproach, for Itia 
mind vrould have been filled with the justice of it. 
He would have seen that 1 did not insult the feelinp 
f)f a father, but the father who felt nothing. He 
would have trusted to the evidence of his own pater- 
Dai heart, and boldly denied the possibility of the 
fact, inptead of defending it. Against whom then 
will his honest indignation be directed, when [ as- 
sure him, that this whole town beheld the Duke of 
Bedford's conduct, upon the death of his son, with 
Jiorror and astoni^^hraent. Sir William Draper doei 
himself but little honour in opposing the general sense 
or his country. The people are seldom wrong in 
their opinions ; in their sentiments they are never 
mistaken. There may be a vanity perhaps in a sin- 
gular way of thinking : but,. when a man professes a 
want of those feelings which do honor to the multi- 
tude, he hazards eomething infinitely more impor- 
tant than the character of his understanding. After 
all, as Sir William may possibly be in earnest in his 
anxiety for the Duke of Bedford, I should be glad to 
relieve him from it. He may rest assured, this wor- 
thy nobleman laughs, with equal indifference, at my 
reproaches, and Sir William's distress about hira. 
But here let it stop. Even the Duke of Bedford, iti- 
Rpnsil)!e as he is, will consult the tranquillity of his 
life, in not provoking the moderation of my temper. 
If, from the profonnqest contempt, I should ever ris« 
into anger, he should soon find, that all 1 have 
already said of him, was lenity and compassion. 

Out of a long catalogue. Sir VV"iI!iam Draper has 
confined himself to the refutation of two charges on- 
ly.' The rest he had not time to disctiss ; and, in- 
deed, it would have been a laborious undertaking. 
To draw up a defence of such a series of enormities, 
would have required a life, at least as long as that 
which has been uniformly employed in the practice 
of them. The public opinion of the Duke of Bed- 
ford's extreme economy is, it seems, entirely with- 
out foundation. Though not very prodigal abroad, 
in his own family, at least, he is regular and mag- 
nificent. He pays his debts, abhors a beggar, and 
makes a handsome provision for his son. His charity 
has i\nproved upon the proverb, and ended where it 
began. Admitting the whole force of this fingle in- 



lOMUS. 117 

♦tancc of his domestic generosity, (wonderful indeed^, 
coDfidering the narrowness of liis fortune, and the 
little merit of Iiis only son) the public may still, per- 
haps, be dissatisfied, and demand some other less c- 
quivocal proofs of his munificence. Sir William Dra- 
per shoold have entered boldly into the detail of in- 
digence relieved, of arts encouraged, of science pat- 
ronised, men of learning protected, and works of 
genius rewarded. In short, had there been a single 
instance beside Mr. Rigby,* of blushing merit, 
brought forward by the Duke for the service of the 
public, it should not have been omitted. 

I wish it were possible to establish my inference 
trith the same certainty on which I believe the prin- 
ciple is founded. My conchision, however, was not 
drawn from the principle alone. lam not so unjust 
as to reason from one crime to another : though I 
tliiak that of all the vices avarice is most apt to 
taint and corrupt theheart I combined the known, 
temper of the man, with the extravagant concessions 
made by the ambassador; and though I doubt not 
ti'jfficienl care was taken to leave no document of any 
tpv^asonable negotiation, 1 still maintain that the 
conductf of this minister carries with it an internal 
nnd convincing evidence against him. Sir William 
Draper seems not to know the value or force of such 
« proof. He will not permit us to judge of the mo- 
tives of men, by the manii'est tendency of their ac- 
tions, nor by the notorious character o'f their minds. 
He calls for papers and witnesses with a triumphant 
security, as if nothing could be true but what could 
be proved in a court of iustice. Yet a reliTOus man 
might have remembered upon what found;ition some 
truths, most interesting to mankind, have been re- 
ceived andestablished. Ifit were not for the internal 
evidence wlii.^h the purest of i-eligions carries with it, 
what would havn become of his once well quoted dec- 
alogue, and of the meekness of his Christianity. 

'1 he generous warmth of his resentment makes him 

* This geotlemcn is supposeil to have the same idea of 
blushing, that a man, bliad from his birth, has of scarlet or 
sky-blue 

t If Sir W. D. will take the trouble of looking into Tor- 
cy's Memoirs, he will see with what little cereraany a 
bribe may be offeredto a Duke, M*with what little cere- 
jnsny it -was only not accepkd. 



118 JUNIUS. 

confoaod tire order of event?. He forgets tljat ttje 
insults and distresses which the Duke oi Bedford has 
stifFered, and which Sir VVillianj has lamented, with 
many delicate touches of t.'ie true pathetic, were 
only recorded in my letter to his Grace, not occa- 
sioned by it. It was a simple candid narrative of 
jPacts; though, for aught I know, it may carry with 
it soinething prophetic. His Grace, imdonbtedly has 
received several ominous hints; and, I think, in cer- 
tain circumstances, a wise man would do well to pre-, 
pare himself for the event. 

But I have a charge of a heavier nature against 
Sir William Draper. He tells us that the Duke of 
Bedford is amenable to justice; that Parliament is a 
high and solemn tribunal; and that, if guilty, he 
may be punished by due course of law: and all this 
he says with as much gravity as if he believed one 
word of the matter. I hope, indeed, tlie day of im- 
peachments- will arrive before this nobleman escapes 
out of life ; but, to refer us to that mode of proceeding 
now, with such a Ministrj'-, and such a House of 
Commons, as the present, what is it but an indecent 
mockery of the common sense of the nation ? I think 
he might have coutented himself with defending 
the greatest enemy, without insulting the dis- 
tresses of his country. 

His concluding declaration of his opinion, with 
respect to the present condition of affairs, is too loose 
and undetermined to be of any service to the public. 
How strange is it that this gentleman should dedicate 
so much time and argument to tite defence of worth- 
less or indifferent characters, wiiilehe givesbut seven 
eolitary lines to the only subject which can deserve 
his attention, or do credit to his abilities. 

JUNIUS. 



LETTER XXVIII. 

To the. Printer of the Public Advertiser. 

SIB. October 20, 1759. 

I vEav sincerely applaud the spirit with which a 
lady has paid the debt of gratitude to her benefactor. 
Though I think she has mistaken the point, she showsi 



JUNIUS. 119 

IsTvirtJie whieh makes her respectable. Tlie question 
kirned upon the personal generosity or avarice of a 
man wh«..-e private fortune is immense. The proofs 
of his munificence must be drawn from the uses to 
• which he has applied that fortune. 1 was not speak- 
ing of a Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, but of a rich 
,English Duke, whose wealth gave him the means of 
doingasmucii good in this country, as he derived from 
his power in another. I am far from wishing to les- 
sen the meritofthisFinglebenevolent action ; perhaps 
it is the more conspicuous from standing alone. All 
I mean to say is, that it proves nothing in the present 
argument. JUNIUB. 



LETTER XXIX. 
J.ddrtsstd to the Priiiter of the Public JdvertiHr. 

SIR, October 19, 1769. 

I Ait well assured that Junius will never descend t« 
dispute with such a writer as Modestus (whose letter 
appeared in the Gazetteer of Monday) especially a» 
the dispute must be chiefly about words. Notwith- 
Itanding the partiality of tiie public, it does not ap- 
pear that Junius values him«elf upon any superior 
•kill in composition ; and 1 hope his time will always 
be more usefully employed than in the trifling refine- 
iments of verbal criticism. Modestus, however, shall 
ihave no reason to triumph in the silence and mode- 
ration of Junius. If he knew as much of the propriety 
of language, as I believe, l)e does of the facts in ques- 
tion, he would have been as cautious of attacking Ju- 
nius upon his composition, as he seems to be of enter- 
ing into the subject of it; yet, after all, the last is the 
only article of any importance to the public. 

I do not wonder at the unremitted rancour with 
which the Duke of Bedford and his adherents invari- 
ably speak of a nation, which we well know has been 
too much injured to be easily forgiven. But why- 
must Junius be an Irishman p The absurdity of his 
nritings betrays him. Waving all considerations of 
the insult offered by Modestus to the declared judg- 
ment ©f the people (they may well bear this amongst 



120 JUNIUS. 

*he rest) let lis follow the several instance*, and try j 
whether the charge be fairly giipported. 

First, theo, the leaving a man to enjoy such a re-' 
pose as lie can find upon a bed of tortiiro*, is severe 
indeed; perhaps too much so, when applied to such a 
trifler as Sir U'lliiaiji Draper; but there is nothing 
absurd eitlier in the idea or expression. Modeptlis 
cannot distiosuish between a sarcasm and a contra- 
diction. 

2. I affirm, with Junius, that it is the frequency of 
the fact which alone can make us comprehend how a 
man can be his ovvn enemy. We should never arrive 
nt the complex idea conveyed by those words, if we 
had only seen one or two instances of a man actin;; 
to his own prejudice. Offer the proposition to a child I 
or a man unused to compound his ideas, and you will j 
soon see how little either of them understand you. j 
It is not a simple idea, arising from a single fact, but ! 
a very complex idea, arising from many facts, well 
observed, and accuiately compared. 

.3. Modestus could not, without great affectation, 
mistake the meaning of Junius, when he speaks of a 
man, who is the bitterest enemy of his friends. He 
could not but know, that Junius spoke not of a false 
or hollow friendship, but of a real intention to serve, 
and that intention producing the worst effects of en- 
mity. Whether the description he strictly applica- 
ble to Sir William Draper, is another question. Ju- 
nius docs not say, that it is more criminal for a man 
to be tlic enemy of his friends than his own ; though 
lie miglit have affirnud it with truth. In a moral 
lis;ht, a man may certainly take greater liberties with 
himself, than witli another. To sacrifice ourselves 
merely, is a weakuesfi we maypudulge in, if we tbink i 
proper, for we do it at our own hnzard and expense; 
but, under the pretence of friendship to sport with the 
reputation, or 8i:''if5ce the honour, of another, is 
som-'t.'iing worse than tfreakncss: and if, in favour of 
tlie foolish intention, we do not call it a ci ime, we 
must allow, at least, Unt it a; ises from an overween- 
ing, busy, meddling iuitaideuce. Junius says, only, 
and he saystruiv, t; -.tit ismoreevtraordin.-ry ; that 
it involves agnate; contradiction than the other; 
and, is it not a maxim received in life, that, in gene- 
ral, we can determine mjrewisely for others than - 
for ourselves ? T he reason of it is so clear in arguraeot. 



ivmvs. ^^ 

tat It hardly wants the conHrmation of Mperience. 
r William ^Draper, 1 confess \s nn excepUon to the 
eaeral rule, though not much to Ins credit. ^ 
Tlf this gcnlleman will go back to ^» ^thicB he 
,ty pe haps, discover the truth of what Jnn,ns saye, 

n^lnoouLrd tyranny "'^^f '^V^^^hf wav of 
-orturesof thebody may ^e mtrodnced by way ot 
rnamt?nt or ilhistratioo, to ^-^P resent those of^ the 
S but strictly, there is no similitude between 
hem-' they a e'totally different, both in their cause 
nd nnevaUon. The wretch who suffers iipon the 
ack^s merely passive : but, when the mind is tortur- 
•d it =Vot at the command of any outward power ; 
t is the sense of gi.iU which constitutes the pumsh- 
oent and create, that torture with which the guilty 

"5 'ne^nrsqilllf what Junius says of conscience, 
ind makes the sentence ridiculous by making it his 

■*To much for composition. Now fo'-^^f • /""i"?*' 
t seems has mistaken the Buke of Bedford. His 
Grace hk all the proper feelings of a father though 
tie took care to suppress the appearance of them. V et 
It was an occasion, one would think, on wlucti he 
ieed not have been'ashamed of.hi. grief; on which 
less fortitude would have done him more honour I 
WTi conceive, indeed, a benevolent motive [o'"' en- 
deavouring to assume an air of tranquillity in his own- 
ramily ; and 1 wish I could discover any thing m the 
rest of his character, to just fy my assigning t^iat mo- 
tive to his behaviour. But is there no medium P Wa« 
necessary to appear abroad to ballot at the India- 
House, and make a public display, tliough it w^re only 
"fan apparent insensibility P I know we are treading 
on tender ground; and Junius, I am c^n^^f^^'- nSa 
not wish to urge this question further Letthefnenda 
of the Duke of Bedford observe that humble silence 
^hich becomes their situaticy. They^ should recol- 
lect, that there arc still gome facts m store at ^^hlch 
human nature would shudder. 1 shall be "tide'- t<«>d 
by those whom it concerns, when 1 say, that t.iese 
facts go further than to the Duke.* 

* mthin a fortnight after ^^''"d Tai;JJ«ocfc'jd«/ttA,/J<- rf«e. 
rabk GcrtruiK had a route at Btdford twuse. J hi gf^od Vui^e 



l.2g JUNltJ.S. 

It 18 not inconsistent to suppose, that « mas »ay ke 
quite indifferent about one part of a charge, yet se- 
verely stung with another: and though he feels no 
remorse, that he may wish to be revenged. The 
charge of insensibility carries a reproach, indeed, 
but no danger, with it. Junius had said, There art 
others who would assassinate. Modestus, knowiug his 
man, will not suffer tite insinuation to be divided, but 
fixes it all upon the Duke of Bedibrd. 

Without determining upon what evidence Juni«M 
would choose to be condemned, I will venture to 
maintain, in opposition to Modestus, or to Mr. Rig- 
by (w^o is certainly not Modestus) or any of the 
Bloomsbury gang, that the evidence against the Duke 
of Bedford is as strong as any prepuraptive evidence 
can be. It depends upon a combination of facts and 
reasoning, which require ho confirmation from the 
anecdote of the Duke of Marlborongli. This anec- 
dote was referred to, merely to show how ready a 
ercat man may be to receive a great bribe: and if 
Modestus could read the original, he would see, that 
the expression only mt accepted, was, probably, the 
only oue in our language tluit exactly fitted the case. 
The bribe offered to the Duke of Marlborough wa» 
not refused. . 

I cannot conclude without taking notice of this ho- 
nest gpnlleman's learning, and wishing he had given 
us a little more of it. When he accidentally found 
himself so near speaking truth, it wa.« rather unfair of 
hiiu to leave out the non potuisse refdli. As it stands, 
the pudet hctc opprobria may be divided equally be- 
tween Mr. Rigby and the Duke of Bedford. Mr. 
Righy, 1 take for granted, will assert his natural 

(n-ho had onlii sixtj/ thowand poutids a year) ordered an inven- 
tory to be taken ofklx son^s n:e,aring apparel, durvn. to his slip- 
pers, sold thtm all, and put ike mcru-y in his pocket. Tlit 
timiablc Marchioness, shocked at such brutal, unfeeling avarice, 
gave the value oj the cloihcf to the Marquis's servant, out <f 
her on-n purse. That incomparable woman did not long suT' 
Vive her husband. Whin she died, the Duchess of Bedford 
treated her as the Duke had treated his only son ; she ordered 
'ivtTi/ gown and trinket to be sold, and pocketed the money. 
These arc the rnonilers rt^xom Sir fVilliam Draper comes for- 
7vard to dfend. May God protect me from doing any thing 
f?^? may resr.irt.srct'i di^ense, or tv irsf/vr such frit rJithip.\ 



Jjight to the modesti?^ of the quotation, and leave all 
Tie opprobrium to his Grace. PHILO JUI^IIUS. 

Ms' : 



LETTER XXX. 

To the Printer of the Public Jdvertiser. 

■iz, OcTOBEH 17, 1769. 

j It is not wonderful that the ^reat cause in •wliich 
'his country is engaged, should have roused and en- 
j;rossed the whole'altcntiou of the people. I rather 
|idraire the generous spirit with which they feel and 
lisserttheir interest in this important question, than 
' jlame them for their indifTeronce aborjt any other. 
liVhen the constitution is openly invaded, when the 
irst original right of the people, from which all lawB 
derive their authority, is directly attacked, inferior 
'rievances naturally lose their force, and are suffered 
to pass by without punishment or observation. Tlie 
present Ministry are as singularly marked by their 
fortune, as by tlieir crimes. Instead of atoning for 
their former conduct, by any wise or popular mea- 
sure, they have found, in the enormity of one fact, a 
cover and defence for a series of measures, which must 
have been fatal to any other administration. I fear 
we are too remiss in observing the whole of their pro- 
Cfedings. Struck with the principal figure, we do not 
sufSciently mark in what manner the canvass is tilled 
tip. Yet surely it is not a loss crime, nor less fatal ia 
its consequences, to encourage a tiagrant breach of the 
law, by a mi lit:*ry force, tiian to make «ise of the forms 
ol' Parliament to destroy tlie constitution. The Mi- 
nistry seem determined to give us a choice of difficul- 
ties, and, if possible, to per}>lex us with tiie multitude 
of their offences. Theexpedient is worthy of the Duke 
of Grafton. But though he has pjcserved a gradation 
and variety in his measures, we should remember that 
tli^ princij)le is uniform. Dictated by the same spirit, 
Ih -y deseivp the snme attention. The following fact, 
tlioiigh of tlie most alarming nature, has not yet been 
<:ihniriy stated to the public ; nor have tlie consequen- 
cert of it been BufEcienlly tmder..-tood. Had 1 taken it 
up at ao early pet i'x!,' J sIiohIJ haye been accused af 



124 JUNIUS. 

an uncandid, malignant precipitation, as iTI watch* 
for an unfair advantage against the Ministry, at 
would not allow them a reasonable time to do the 
duty. They now stand without excuse. Instead 
employing the leisure tliey have had, in a stiict e 
amination of the offence, and punishing the offendei 
they seem to have considered that indulgence as 
security to them: tliat, with a little time and m 
nagement, the whole affair might be buried in silenc 1 
and utteily forgotten. 

A major general* of the army is arrested by th 
slierifF's oflficers for a considerable debt. He pe? 
suades iheni to conduct Iwm to the Tilt-yard, in 'M 
Jriniee's Park, under some pretence of business, whi(i 
it imported him to settle before he was confined. K 
applies to a sergeant, not immediately on duty, ( 
assist, with some of his companions, in favouring h 
escape. He attempts it. A bustle ensues. ^Fl 
bailiffs claim their prisoner. 

An officer of the guardsf not then on duty, take 
part in the affair, and applies to the^ lieutenant com 
manding the Tilt-yard guard, and urges him to turi 
out his guard to relieve a general officer. The liei 
tenant declines interfering in person,, but stands at 
distance, and suffers the business to be done. Th 
officer takes upon himself to order out the guard. 1 
a moment they are in arms, quit their guard, raarcl 
rescue the general, and drive away the sheriff's of! 
cers, who, in vain, represent their right to the pv: 
«oner, and the nature of the arrest. The soldier 
first conduct the general into the guard-room, the 
escort him to a place of safety, with bayonets fixec 
and in all the forms of military triumph. I will nol 
cnlaree upon the various circumstances which attenc 
ed this atrocious proceeding. The personal injur 
received by the officers of the law, in the executio 
of their duty, may, perhaps, be atoned for by som 
jirivate compensation. I consider nothing but th 
wound which has been given to the law itself, t 
whicli no remedy has been applied, no satisfaclioi 
made. Neither is it my design to dwell upon tht 
misconductof the parties concerned, any further thai 

* Major General Gansel 1 Lieutenant Dodd. 

X Liautenant Gartfe. 



JUxMUS. 125 

•ossnry to show the behaviour of the Ministry in 

;e light. I would make every compas.sionrite 

nice for the infatuation of the prisoner, the 

ctul criminal discretion of one officer, and the 

>s of iinother. I would leave tiie ii^norant 

? entirf*ly ont of the question. They are 

;:ily <he least Kuilty : though they are the only 

tis who have yet snfFered, even in the appear- 

of pnni^slnnenr.* The foct itself, however atro- 

is not the principal p;;int to be considered, it 

have happened niider a more regular govern- 

aiid with guard* better disciplined than onrs, 

min qnestion i«, in whit manner have the Mi- 

■ acted on this extraordinary occasion p A2;ene- 
Ri<:er calls upon the king's own guard, "^tiien 
'!y on duty, to rescue him from the laws of his 

v: yet, at this moment, he is in a situation no 

than \i he had not ctnnmitted an ofFfnce equally 

lows in a civil and military view. A lieutenant 

duty de-i^nedly quit=! his ffuard, and sufFcrs it 

drawn out by another officer, for a purpose, 

he well knew (as we may recollect from an 

ranee of caiition, which only mukos his beha- 

the more criminal) to be in the highest decree 

I Has this gentleman been called to a court- 

il to answer for liis cond'ict p No. Has it been 

•ed? No. Has it been in any shape inquired 

^o. Another lieritenant, not upon duty, now 

t his egi mentals, is da ring enotigh to order out 

i's L'uard, over which lie had properly no 

Mid, and eng;ag:es them in a violation of the 

t his country, perhaps the most singidar and ex- 

cmt that ev. r was attempted. What pnnish- 

1 18 he .-ufTTedP Literally none. Supposing he 

be .prosecuted at common law for the rescue- 

lit circumstance, from whi.h t'le Ministry can 

no merit, excuse or j;i-^tilV their sufFerinff so 

it a breach of military discipline to pass by 

ished and unnoticed P Are they aware of tlie 

■ iifP-red to their Sovereign, wlien his own pro- 
ud IS ordered ont to stop, by main force, the 

ion of his lawsp What are we to conclude from 
loaloui a neglect of their duty, but tliat they 

* A few of theno were confined. 

F i 



12S JU.NmS. 

have other views, which can only be ans^f^ed hy 
securing the attachment of the guaidsi^ The Miuistfer 
•tt'oiikl hardly be so cautious of ofTer.ding them, if he 
did not mean, in due time, to call for their asist- 
ance. 

With respect to the parties themselves, let it be ob- 
served, that these gentlemen are neither young officers, 
nor very young men. Had they belonged to the un- 
fledged race of ensign*^, who infest our streets, and 
dishonour our public places, it might, perhaps, be 
sufficient to send them back to that discipline from 
which their parents, judging lightly from tlie mr^turi- 
ty of their vices, had removed them too soon. In 
this case, 1 am sorry to see, not so much the folly of 
youths, as the spirit of the corps, and the connivance 
cf government. I do not question that there are 
niatiy brave and worthy oflicers in the regiments of 
giiiird'. But considering them as a corps, I fear it 
will he found, that they are neither good soldiers nor 
good subjects ! Far be it from me to insinuate the most 
distant reflection upon the army. On the contraiy, 
I honour and esteem the profession; and, if these 
gentlemen were better soldier.?, I am sure they would 
ba better subjects. It is not that there is any internal 
vice or defect in the profession it:elf, as regulated in 
thi.s country, but that it is the spirit of this particular 
corps to des[;ise their profession ; and that, while 
they vainly assume the lead of the army, they make 
it matter of impertinent comparison, and triumph 
over the bravest troops in the woild (1- mean our 
inarching regiments) that th^y, indeed, star.d upon 
liiglier ground, and are privil^'ged to neglect the 
laborious forms of military discipline and duty. 
V»'ithout dwelling longer upon a most invidious sub- 
ject, I shall leave it to military men, who have seea 1 
a service more active than the parade, to determine 
wliether or no I speak truth. 

How far this dangerous spirit has been encouraged 
by government, and to what pernicious purposes it- 
may be applied hereafter, well deserves our most 
serious consideration. I know, iudeed, that, wiien- 
this affair happened, an affectation of alarm ran 
through the ministry. Something must be done to 
save appearances. The case was too flagrant to be 
passed by abiolutely without notice. But how have 



juNiua m 

they acted P Instead of ordering the officers concern- 
ed (and who, strictly speaking, are alone guilty,) to 
be put under arrest, and brought to triiil, they would 
have it understood, that they did their duty com- 
pletely, in confining a sergeant and four private sol- 
diers, until they should be demanded by the civil 
power: so that while the officers, who ordered or 
permitted the thing to be done, escaped without cen- 
sure, the poor men, wiio obeyed these order?, who, irv 
a military view, are no way responsible for what they 
did, and who, for that reason, have been discharged 
by the civil magistrates, are the only objects whom 
the Ministry have thcugiit proper to expose to pun- 
ishment. They did not venture to bring even these 
men to a court-martial, because t'ley knew their evi- 
dence would be fata! to some persons, wliom they 
: were determined to protect; otherwise, I doubt not, 
the lives of these unhappy, friendless soldiers, would 
long >ince have been sacrificed, without scruple, to 
' the security of their guilty officers. 

I have been accused of endeavouring to inflame the 
pa3>ions of the people. Let me now appeal to their 
understanding. If there be any tool of administra- 
tion, daring enough to deny these facts, or shameless 
enough to defend the conduct of the ministry, let him 
come forward. I care not under what title he ap- 
, pears. He shall find me ready to maintain the truth 
, of niy narrative, and the justice of m)' observations 
1 upon it, at the hazard of my utmost credit with the 
1 public. 

I Under the most arbitrary govern ments, the comm on 
r administration of justice is suffered to take its course. 
IThe subject, though robbed of his share in the legisla- 
iture, is still protected by the laws. The political 
■freedom of the English constitution was once the 
. pride and honour of an Englishman. The civil 
equality of the laws preserved the property, and 
idefendrd t!ie safety of the subject. Are these glori- 
ous privileges the biithright of the peoi)le, or are 
we only tenants at will of thi^ Ministry p Rut that I 
vknow t'lere is a spirit of resi4anceiir the hearts of my 
countrymen; that they value life, tjot by its conve- 
uiencips, but by the independ<. nee and dignity oftheir 
condition; I should, at liiis momrut, appeal only to 
.theii' discretion. I should persuade tliem to bani^ 



123 JUNIUS. 

from their minds all memory of what we were; I 
should teil them this is not a time to remember that 
we were Englishmen ; and give it, as my last advice, 
to niake stmie early agreement with the Minister, 
that, since it has pleased him to rob us of tho.«e poli- 
tical rights, which once distinguished the inhabitants 
of a country where honour was happiness, he would 
leave us at least the humble, obedient security of 
citizens, and graciously condescend to protect ns in 
our submission. JUNIUS. 



LETTER XXXI. 

To the Printer of the Public Advertiser. 

SiK, November 14, 1769. 

Thb variety of remarks which have been made 
upon the last letter of Junius, and my own oiinion of 
the writer, who, wiiatever may be his faults, is cer- 
tainly not a weak man, have induced me to examine, 
with some .attention, the subject of that letter. I 
could not persuade mj^^elf, tiiat, while he hid plenty 
of important ma-eriils, he would have tiken up a 
light or trifling occasion to attack the Mini -try; much 
less could 1 conceive, that it was his intention to ruin 
the officers concerned in the rescue of General Gan- 
sel, or to injure the General himself. These are little 
objects, andean no way contribute to the great pur- 
poses he seems to [>ave in view, by addressing him- 
self to the public. Without considering the oinament- 
ed style he has adopted, I drterinined to look further 
into the matter, befoie I decided upon the merits of 
his letter. The first step I took was to inquire into 
the truth of the facts; for if these were either false or 
misrepresented, t!)e most artful exertion of his under- 
standing, in reasoning upon them, would only be a 
di:^grace to him- Now, Sir, f have found every cir- 
cumstance stated by Junius to be literally true. G'm- 
eral Gansel persuaded the bailiffs to conduct him to 
the parade, ^nd certainly solicited a corporal, and 
other soldiers, to assist him in making his escape. 
Ca;;tain Dodd did certainly apply to Captain Garth 
for the assistance of his guard, Captaia Garth de- 



JUNIUS. 129 

clined appearing himself, but stood aloof while the 
other took upon him to order out the King's guard, 
and by main force rescued liie- General. It is also 
gtrlctlv true, that tlie General was escorted by a file 
of musqueteers to a place of security. These are facts, 
Mr. W^oodtall, whicli I promise you no j^entleman in 
the guards will deny. If all, or any, of them arc 
false, why are they not contradicted by the parties 
themselves? However secure against military cen- 
sure, they have yet a character to lose; and surely, 
if they are innocent, it is not beneath them to pay 
some attention to the opinion of the public. 

The force of Junius's observations upon these fact?, 
cannot be better marked, than by stating and refuting 
the objections which have been made to them. One 
writer says, " admitting the officers have offended, 
they are punishable at common law ; and will you 
have a British subject punished twice for the same 
offence .P I answer that they have coniraitted two 
offences, both very enormous, and violated two laws. 
The rescue is one offence, the fl.!grant breach of dis- 
cipline another; and hitherto it does not appear that 
they have been punished, or even censured, for ei- 
ther. Another gentleman lays much stress upon the 
calamity of the case; and, instead of disproving 
facts, appeals at once to the compassion of the public. 
This idea, as well as the insinuation, that depriving 
the parties of their cornmissisns imuld he an injury to 
their creditors can only refer to General Gansel. 
The other officers are in no distress ; therefore, have 
no claim to compassion: nor does it appear that their 
creditors, if they have any, are more likely to be 
satisfied by their continuing in the guards. But 
this sort of plea will not hold in any shape. Com- 

fiassion to an offender, who has grossly violated the 
aw, is, in effect, a cruelty to the peaceable subject 
who has observed theni : and, even admitting the 
force of any alleviating circumstances, it is neverthe-. 
less true, that, in this instance, the royal compassion 
has interposed too soon. The legal and proper mercy 
of a King of England miy remit the punishment, but 
ought not to stop the trial. 

Beside these particular objections, there has been 
aery raised against Junius, for his malice and injus- 
tice in attacking the Ministry upon an event which 



1J« JUNIUS. 

they could neither hinder nor foresee. ThU, I must 
affirm, is 3 false repre^entition of his argument. He 
lays no stress upon the everititself, as a gio.iud of ac- 
cnsation against the Ministry, but dwelis entirely 
upon their Hibseqnentcondiirt. He doesnntsay tiiat 
thy me answerable fur iheoflencp, but for the scanda- 
loUf! neglect of their duty, in puffi-ririg an offence so 
fla.i^rant to pass by without notice or inquiry. Sup- 
posing them ever so reg-.udless of what they owe to 
the public, and as indifferent about the <>;iir)iort, as 
thej'- are about the interests, oftheir country, what 
answer, as the officer? of the crown, will they give to 
Jnniti'', when he ;^sks them, Are they anmrtofi'ic out- 
rage oTeied to their Sovereign, 7vhen his 07vn proper 
guard isorder<,dout to stop, by main force, the execu- 
tion of his lans 7 And when we see a Mini -ftiy giv- 
ing such a strange, unaccountable protection to the 
officers of the guards, is it unfair to suspect that Ihey 
have some secret and unwarrantable motives for their 
conduct ; if they feel themselves injured by such a 
suspicion, why do tliey not immediately clear them- 
selves from it by doing their duty p For the honour 
of the guards, 1 cannot help expressing another sus- 
picion, th^tif thecommanding office; had not receiv- 
ed a secret injunction to the contrary, he would, in 
the ordinary course of his business, have applied for 
a con It martial to try the two subalterns: the one for 
quitting his guard ; the other for taking upon him the 
command of the guard, and employing it in the man- 
ner he <lid. 1 do not mean to enter into or defend the 
severity with which Junius treats the guards. On 
the contrary, I will suppose, for a moment, that they 
deserve a very different character. If this be true, in 
what light will they consider the conduct of the two 
subalterns but as a general reproach and disgrace to 
the whole corps p And will they not wish to see them 
censured, jn a military way, if it were only for the 
credit and disciplineof the reeimentp 

Upon the whole. Sir, the Ministry seem to me to 
have taken a very improper advantage of the good 
cature of the pHblic, whose humajiity, they found, 
considered nothing in this affair but the distress of 
General Gansel. They would persuade us, that it 
vas oTily a common rescue by a few disorderly^ sol- 
il'ersjaad not the formal, deliberate act ©f the Kiflg'* 



JtJNrCS. 131 

• ptmrd, headed by an officer; and the public has 
fallen into the di-ception. I think, therefore, we are 
oblJi (1 toJm»iii.> fo.- the care he l)<i:* taken to inquire 
into ti.c facts, iia^l ibr thejnst coinment.iry with which 
he li (S ^iven them to tiie' world For my own part, 
I amasunwillinsj asany man toload the unfortiiii :te j 
l)nt really, Sir, t.'ie precedent, witii respect to tlie 
guards isof a most important nature, and alarmiuEj 
en'>iiji;i (consideriii^ the consequences with wliich it 
may be attended) to deserve a parliamentary inquiry. 
When the guards are daring f:no!i;j;ii, not onlj' to 
violat(» their own di^jcipline, but publicly, and with 
the mo.«t attrocious violence, to stop the execution of 
the Iwvi', and when such extraordinary offences pass 
with impunity, believe me, Sir, the precedent strikes 
deep. PHILO JUNIUS. 



LETTER XXXII. 

To the PriTVter of the Public Advertiser. 

Sir November 15, 17G9. 

I ADMIT the claim of a gentleman, who publishes 
in the Gazetteer under the name of Modestus He 
lias some right lo expect an answer from me j though, 
I think, not so much from the merit or imj-'ortance of 
his objections, as from my own voluntary engage- 
ment. I hid a reason for not taking notice of him 
sooner, which, as he is a candid person, 1 believe he 
will think safficient. In my first letter, I took for 
granted, from the tinie which had elapsed, that there 
was no iittention to censure, or even to try, the per- 
sons concerned in the rescue of General Gansel : but 
Modestus having since either affirmed, or strongly 
insinuated, t!iat t!ie offenders miglit still be brought 
to a legal trial, anyattempt to prejudge the cause, or 
to prejudice the minds of a jury, or a court martial, 
would be highly improper. 

A man more hostile to the Minwtry than I am, 
would not sooften remind them of their duty. Ifthe 
Duke of Grafton will not perform the duty of his 
Btotioa, why is keMiaistec.*^ I will not dujcead t«k 



133 JUNIUS. 

a scuriHous altercntlon wWi any man ; bnt this h a 
subject too important to be jiasscd over with silent 
indifFcrence- li" tlse gfiiDcmen, whose conduct is in 
question, are not brought to a trial, the Duke of 
Grafton shall hear from me a.<>;ciin. 

Tiie motives on which- i am supposed to ha. e taken 
i:p this cause, are oHittle importance crmpared witis 
the facts themselves, and tlie observations ] have 
made upon them. Without a v.iin profession ol in- 
tegrity, which in tliesctimesinigljt ju t!y be suspected, 
1 shall show rayf-eU, in fffcct, a friend to the in»erest 
of my countrymen; and leave it to them to deter- 
mine, whetrier i am moved by a personal malevolence 
to three priviite centlemeu; or merely by a hope of 
perplexing the ministry; or whet:'er I am animated 
by Hji.st and honourable purpose of obtaining a ■•atis- 
faction to the laws of this couritry, equal, if possible^ 
to the violation they have suffered. 

JUNIUS. 



LETTER XXXIII. 

To his Grace the Duke of Qrafton. 

:vIT LORD, NOVF.MBER 29, 1769. 

Though my opinion of your Grace's integrity was 
but little affected by the coyness with which you re- 
ceived Mr. Vaughan's propo.-als, I confess I give you 
some credit for your discretion. You had a fair 
opportunity of displaying a certain delicacy, of whi:rh 
you had not been suspected, and you were in the 
right to make use of it. By laying in a moderate 
stock of reputation, you undoubtedly meant to j)ro- 
vide for the future necessities of your character, tiiat, 
with an honourable resistance upon record, you 
might safely indulge your genius, and yield to a fa- 
vourite inclination with security. But you have dis- 
covered your purposes too soon; and, instead of the 
modest reserve of virtue, have shown us the terma- 
gant chastity of a priide, who giattfies her jiassions 
with distinction, and prosecutes one lover for a rape, 
while'shesolicllg the lewd embraces of another. 

Vour cheek turuspale; for a g-iilty conscience tells 



JUNIUS. 138 

you, yoli are undone. Come forvrard, thou virtuous 
Hiiitister, and tell tlie world by what interest Mr. 
Hiiic has been recommended to so extraordinary a 
mark of his Majesty's favour; what was the price of 
the patent he has bought, and to what honourablo 
purpose tlie purchase-money has been applied. No- 
thing less than many thousands could pay Colonel Bnr- 
goyne's expenses at Preston. Do you dare to prose- 
cute .«uch a creatuie as Vaugban, while you are bare- 
ly setting up the Royal patronage to auction? Do 
you dare to complain of an attack upon your own 
honour, while you are selling the favoursof the Crown, 
to raiae a fund for corrupting the morals of the peo- 
ple.^ And do you think it is possible su^h enormities 
should escape witiiout impeachment? It is, indeed, 
highly your interest to maintain the present House of 
Commons. Having sold the nation to you in gross, 
they will undoubtedly protect you in the detail ; for, 
while they patronize your crimes, they feel for theii'^ 
own* JUNIUS. 



LETTER XXXIV. 
To his Graci the Duke, of Grafton. 

a:T LORD, DECEMBER 12, 1769. 

I KIND, with some surprise, that you are not sup- 
ported as you deserve. Your mor-t determined advo- 
cates liave scruples about tiiem, wLiich j-ou are unac- 
qu unted with ; and though there be nothing too ha- 
zardous for your grace tn engage in, thtre are some 
things too iniamous for the vilest prostit.ite of a news- 
pape • to defend.* In wijat otiier manner s-hall we 
account for the profound suhmi«sive fi'ence, which 
yo'i and your friends h;; ve ob-erved upon a charge, 
which called immedi itc^ly for tue clearest refutation, 
and would irave justified the severest measures of re- 

* From the publication of the 'preceding in Ikis date, not one 
.word was said in dfnce of the Duke of G rtfion. Bit! vice 
and imjudcncc soon recovered taemselvs, a,;d tin sale of tha 
racial favour 7vas openly avowed imd dcfciuled. fVe acknow- 
ledged the ficti^ of St. James'' s, bvt rvluxt is become of its mora- 
lity ? 

I F 2 



134 JUNIUS. 

sentment? I did not attempt to blast your charactpr 
by an indirect, amtiJgiions insinuation; but cnndidiy 
st:\ted to you a i>lain IViCt, which struck directly at 
the integrity of a privy counsellor, of a first connnis- 
sioner of the trcasmj', andoi a Ifaciing minislrr, who 
is supposed to enjoy the first sh ire in his Mv^jf^';ty'8 
confidence.* In evpvy one of these capacities, I em- 
ployed the most moderate terms to charge ^'oii with 
treachery to yonr sovereign, and breach of trust ia 
your oflice. I accused yr<n of havint: sold a patent 
place in the collection of tl)e customs at Exeter to one 
Mr. Mine, who, unable, or unwiiUnj, to deposit the 
whole purchase money himselt',raised part ofit by con- 
tribution, and has now a certain Doctor Brooke quar- 
tftrediipon the saliry for one hundred poundsa year. 
iXo sate by t!iecandie was ever conducted with g;reater 
formality. I affirm, thr.t the price at vviiich the place 
was knocked down (and winch I have pood reason to 
tliiuk, was not less than three thousand five hundred 
pounds) was with your connivance and consent, paid 
to Colonel Burgoyne, to rewaid hiin, I presume, for 
the df'cency of his deportment at Pre.-ton ; or to re- 
imburse biin, perhaps, for the fine of one thousand 
ponds, wliich, for that very deportment, tiie Court of 
King's Bench thought proper to s<'t upon him. It is 
not often that the Chief Jtistice and the Prinie Minis- 
ter are so strangely at variance in their opinion of 
men and things. 

I thank God, there is not in human nature a degree 
of impu(t-ncc daring enough to deny the charge I have 
fixed upon you. Your courteous secretary,! your con- 
fidential architect,! are silent as the grave. Even 
Mr. Rigby's countenance fails him. He violates his 
second nature, and blu.«hos whenever he speaks of yon. 
Perhaps the noble colonel himself will relieve 3 ou. 
JSo man is more tender of bis reputation. Hf is not 
only nice, but perfectly sore, in every thing that 
touches his honour. If any man, for example, were 
to accuse him of taking his stand at a gaming table, 
and watcliing with the sobf-rest attention, for a fair 
opportunity of engaging a drunken young nobleman 

* And 6,y the smr.z means preserves if to this hour, 
i Tonmy Bradshaw. 

X Mr. Taylor. He and Georeie Ross (the Scotch agent and 
n'orthy confident of Lord Mansfidd) managed the bvsiuess. 



JUNIUS. 135 

at piquet, he would, undoubtedly, consider it as an 
infamous aspersiin upon his character, and resent it 
like a man of honour. Acquitting him, the'tfore, of 
drawing a rfgular and splejidid subsistence from any 
unworthy practices, either in his own liouse, or else- 
where, let me a?k your Grace, for wliat military 
merits you liave been pleased to reward him wilh 
military government? He hid a regiment of dra- 
goons, Which one would imagine wjis at leat an equi- 
valent for any services he ever performed. Besides, 
he is but a young officer, consideriiia; his preferment; 
and, except iu his activity at Preston, not very con- 
spicuous in his profession. But it seeins the sale of a 
civil employment was not sufficient; and mi ilary 
governments, which were intruded for tlie support of 
worn-out veterans, must be thrown into the scale to 
defray the extensive bribery of a contested election. 
Are tliese the steps you take to secure to your sove- 
reign the att ichment of liis army i' With what coun- 
tenance dare you appear in the royal presence, 
branded, as yon are, with tiie infamy of a notorious 
breach of trust .^ With what countenance can you 
take your seat at the treasury board, or in the coun- 
cil, when yon fee) that every circulating whisper ig 
at your expense alone, and stabs you to the liearti' 
Have you a single friend in P.u'liament so shameless, 
8o thoroughly abandoned, as to undt^rtake your de- 
fence :' V'^ou know, my iiord, that there is not a man 
in either house, whose character, iiowever flagitious, 
would not be ruined by mixing his reputation with 
yours: and does not your heart inform yon tliatyou 
are degraded below the condition of a man, when 
you are obliged to bear these insults with submission, 
and even to thank me foi- my modoration. 

We .are told by the higiiest judicial authority, that 
Mr. Vaughan's* oltin- to purchase the reversion of a 

* A little before, the pub'ication of this and the preceding 
letter, the Dv'ce of Grafloii had commenced a prosccvtron 
against Mr. Sannid t 'auglinii,for endeavoxiring to corrvpt his 
integrity, by an offer of Jive thousand povnasfor a patent place 
in Jamaica. A ruk to show cause jvhy an informalion should 
not be exhibited against Vavghun for certain misdemeanors, 
brin^ granted by the court of Kins^^s Bench, the mailer nas 
fulemnly argvcd on the 21tk of JSovember, 17C.9, and by the 
vnanimous opiidons nf t'*" four judges, the rnir. nas maiienb- 



J-S6 Jl?NIU?. 

patent place In Jamaica (which he was otker wise suffi- 
ciently entitled to) amounts to a high misdemeanour. 
F>e it so: and if he deserves it, let him he puni^iied. 
But tlie learned jud.j;e might have had a fairer oppor- 
t-unity of displ \y\ng the powers of !)is eloquence. 
Having delivered iiimself, with so much energy, upon 
tlie criminal nature, and dangerous con«equpnce of 
any attempt to corrupt a man in your Grace's station, 
what would he have said to the Minister himself, to 
tiiat very Privy Counspllor, to thr.t first coinmissioner 
of the Treasury, who does not wait for, but impa- 
liently solicits, the touch of corruption; who employs' 
the meanest of his creatures in the>:e honourable ser- 
vices; and, forgetting the genius and fidelity of iiis 
secretary, descends to apply to his house-builder for 
assistance p 

This affair, my Lord, will do infinite credit to go- 
vernment, if to clear your character, you shoi.ld tt-ink 
jiroper to bring it into the House of Lordj;, or into the 
court of King's Bench. But, my Lord, you dare not 
do either. JUJNIUS. 

solute. The pleadings and speeches mere accumUly taken in 
short-hand, and published. Then-hoh cf Lord Manitfield''s 
speech, and particularly thefoilondng at r acts from it, d.'sertje 
the readers attention. " J practice of the kind co!7:p!ai!>cd of 
here is lertainly dishonourable and scandalous. If a ?iian, 
standing under the relation of an officer under the King, or of a 
person in whom the King puts confidence, or of a Minister, takes 
■money for the use of that confidence the King puts in hi7n, he 
bascli/ betraijs the King ; hc'bastly betrays his trust. If the 
Ki7ig sold the office, it noxi'd be acting contrary to the trust 
ike constitution hnih reposed in him. The constitution does 
■not intend the crown should sell those offices to raise a revenue 
out of them. Is it possible to hesitate nhether this would not 
be crijninal in the Duke of Grafton? contrary to his duty as a 
Privy-Counsellor, contrary to his duty as a Minister, covtrary 
to his duty as a subject ? His advice should be free, according 
to his judgncnt. It is the duty tf his office; he halh sworn to 
it." Notwithstanding all this, the Duke of Grafton certainly 
sold a patent place to Mr. Hint for three thousand five hun- 
dred pounds. If the House of Commons had done their duty, 
and inipeachcd the Duke for this breach cf trust, hon rvnfully 
must poor honest Mansfield have been puzzled I His cmbar- 
rass7nent mould have afforded the most ridicidous scene that rras 
ever exhibited. To save the Judge from this perplexity, and 
the Duke from impeachment, the prosecution against Vaughan 
?mi isiTnediatcly dropped. 



LETTER XXXV. 

To the Printer of the Public Jdvertiser. 

SIR, December 19, 1769. 

\Vhe:< the complaints of a brave and .lowerful pec- 
pie are observi-d lo increase in proportion to the 
wrongs they have suff-ied; when, in'^tead of snking 
into s-iibrai'^.-ion, they are roused to resistance, the 
time will soon arrive at which t^veiy inicrior consi- 
deration must yield to the j^ecurity of tiie Sovereign, 
and to the ijeneial safety of the state. There is a 
moment of difiically and danger, at which flattery 
and falsehood can no longer deceive, and simplicity 
it-elf can no lonj^rr be misled. Let us suppose it 
arrived: let us suppose a s'"'^cious, well-intentioned 
prince, made sensible, at last, of the great duty he 
owes to his people, and of iiis own disgraceful sitaq- 
tion; that he looks round him for assistance, and 
asks for no advice, but how to gratify the wishes and 
secure the happiness of his subjects. In these circum- 
staiwes, it may be m;Uter of curious .ipeculation to 
consitier, if an honest man were permitted to approach 
a king, in what terms he would address himseh to his 
frovereign. Let it be imagined, no matter how im- 
probable, that the first prejudice against his ciiaracter 
is removed; that the ceremonious difficulties of an 
audience are surmounted; that he feels himself ani- 
njated by the purest and most honourable affections 
to his King and country ; and that the great person 
whom he addresses has spirit enough to bid him speak 
freely, and understanding enough to listen to him 
with attention. Unacquainted with the vain imper- 
tiiicnce of forms, he would deliver his sentiments with 
dignity and firmness, but not without respect. 

SIR, 

It is the misfortune of your life, and oiiginally 
the cause of every reproach and distress which ha^ 
attended your government, that you should never 
have been acquainted with the language of truth, 
until you heard it in the complaints of your people. 
It is not, however, too late to correct the error of 
your education. We are still rnclineU to make an 



133 JUiNIUS. 

indulgent allowance for tlie pernicions lessons you 
received in your youth, and to form the most svingdne 
hopes from the natural benevolence of your disposi- 
tion.* We are far from thinking you capable of a 
direct, deliberate purpose to invade those original 
rights of yotir subjects, oo which all their civil and 
political libeities depend. Hrid it b;'en pos<ible for 
us to entertain a suspicion so disiioriOiirable to your 
character, we should long since have adoj^/ted a style 
of remonstrance very dist int frora the humility of 
compLiiut. The doctrine inculcated by our laws, 
That the King can do m> wrong, is aduiitted without 
reluvtauce. We separate the amiable, good-natured 
princf from tiie folly and treachery of his servants, 
and tlie private virtues of the man from the vices of his 
government. VWre it not for tiiis jest distinction, I 
know not wlietlier your Majesty's condition, or that 
of the English nation, would deserve rao?t to be la- 
mented 1 would prepare yonr mind for a ta vourable 
reception of truth, by removing every painful, offen- 
sive idea of personal reproach. Your subjects, Sir, 
wish for nothing, but that, as they are reasonable and 
atFectionate enough to separate your person from your 

* The plan nfthe iulelage and future dominion over the heir 
apparent, laid maiiy years ago, at Carlton- House, between the 
Princess Dowager and herfavourite the Earl of Bute, was as 
gross and palpable as that which was concerted between Ann of 
Austria and Cardinal Mazarine, to govern Louis the Four- 
teenth, and, in effect, to prolong his minority "imiil the end of 
their lives. That prince had strong natural parts, and vsed 
frequently to blush for his own ignorance and want of educa- 
tion, which had been wilfully ncgected by his mother and her 
niliiion. A little experience, however, soon showed him how 
shamefully he had been treated, and for what infamous purpo- 
ses he had been kept in ignorance. Our great Edward, too, at 
an early period, had sense enough to understand the riature of 
the connexion between his abandoned mother, and the detested 
Mortimer. But since that time, human nature, we may observe, 
is greatly altered for the better. Dowagers may be chaste, and 
minions may be hottest. When it 7vas proposed to settle the 
present King^s household, as Prince of Wales, it is well known, 
that the Earl (f Bute wasforccd into it, in direct contradiction 
to the late King's inclination. That was the salliant point 
from which all the mischiefs and disgraces of the present reign 
took lift and motion. From that moment. Lord Bute never 
suffered the Prince of Wales to be an instant out qfhis tight, 
Wc riscd not iQok farther * 



jUNics. m 

government, so you, in your turn, should dlstin2:i!ish 
between the conduct which becoint-s the ptrinancnt 
di';riiity of a Kin<r, and that which serve? only to 
promote the temporary interest and miserable ambi- 
tion of a Minister. 

Yon ascended the throne with a declared and, I 
donht not, a sincere resolution of givitig universal 
satisfiiction to your j<iibjects ' You found them pleas- 
ed with the novelty of a young prii>ce, whose counte- 
nance promised even nioretlmn his words ; and loyal 
to you, not only from principle, but passion-. It was 
not a cold profe;^pion of allegiance to tiie fiT-.«t magis- 
trate, but a partial, animated attachment to a fa- 
vourite prince, the native of their country. 7'hey 
did not w lit to examine your conduct, nor to be de- 
termined by experience, but gave you a geneious 
credit for the future bles>^in'2;s of your reign, and paid 
you in advance the dearest tribute of their afFections; 
Such, Sir, was once the disposition of a people, who 
now surround your throne with reproaches and com- 
pliintj'. Do justice to yourself. Bniis!) from your 
mind those unworthy opini-ins, with which some in- 
terested persons have laboured to pos'^ess yon. Dis- 
trust the men who tell you th-tt the English are 
naturally light and inconstant; that they complain 
without a cause. Withdraw your contidence equally 
from all parties; from ministers, favourites, and rela- 
tions; and let there be one moment in your life, in 
which you have consulted your own tuiderstandl.'ig. 

Witen you affectedly renounced the name of En- 
glishman, believe me, Sir, you were persuaded to pay 
a very ill-judged compliment to one p-.ut of your sub- 
jects, at the expense ol another. While the natives 
of Scotland are not in actual rebellion, they are un- 
doubtedly entitled to protection: nor do I mean to 
contfenm the policy of giving some encouragement to 
the novelty of their affections for the House of Hano- 
ver. 1 am ready to hope for every thing from their 
■newborn zeal, and from the future steadiness of their 
allegiance; but, liitherto, they liave no claim to your 
favour To honour them with a determined predilec- 
tion and confidence, in exclusion of your E^gli^h sub- 
jects, who placed your family, and, it) spite of trea- 
chery and rebellion, have supported it upon the 
throne, is a mistake too gross even for the unsuspect 



t^O JUNfUa. 

jfjg generosity of youth. In this error, we sre a 
capital violation of the most obvious rules of policy 
and prudence. We trace it, however, to an original 
bias in your education, and are ready to allow for 
your inexperience. 

To the same early influence we attribute it, that 
you liave descended to take a share, not only in the 
narrow views and interests of particular persons, but 
in the fatal malignity of their pas^^ior.s. At your ac- 
cession to t!ie throne, the whole system of government 
was altered, not from wisdom or deliberation, hut be- 
cause it had been .idopted by your predecessor. A 
little personal motive of pique and resentment was 
sufficient to remove the ablest servants of the Crown;* 
but it is not in this country, ISir, that sueh men can he 
dishonoured by the frowns of a King. Tliey were 
dismissed, but could not be disgraced. ^^'ithout en- 
tering into a minuter discussion of the merits of Ih.e 
peace, we may observe, in the imprudent hurry with 
whicli the first overtures from Fiance were accepted, ■ 
in the conduct of the negotiation, and term? of the 
treaty, the strongest marks of that precipitate spirit 
of concession, with which a certain part of your s»ib- 
jects have been at all times ready to purchase a peace 
with tlie nxtural enemies of this country. On your 
part we are satisfied that every thing was honourable 
and i-^incere; and, if England was sold to France, we 
doubt not that your Majesty was equally betrayed. 
The conditions of the peace were matter of grief and 
surprise to your subjects, but not tl]e immediate cause 
of th( ir present discontent. 

Hit!K-rto, Sir, you have been sacrificed to the pre- 
judices and passions of others. With what firmness 
will you bear t!ie mention of your own. 

A man, not very liouourably distingiiislied in the 
world, commences a formal ptlack upon your favour- 
ite, considering nothing but how he might be^t expose 
his person and pi ineijiles to detestation, and the na- 
tional character of his countrymen to contempt. The 
natives of that country, Si), are as much distiguished 

* One nf the, first acts of ike present reign was to disyiiisi 
Mr. Lege, because he had, some ycnjs before^ refused to 'dcld 
his interest in Hampshire to a Scotdimtn, recommended by 
Lord Bute. This was the reason publicly assigned by hit 
L&rdship. ^ 



JUNIUS. lit 

by a peculiar character as by your Majesty's favour. 
Like another clioren people, they liave been conduct- 
ed into tiie land of plenty, where tliey lind themselves 
effectually marked, vind divided from mankind. There 
is iiardly a period at which the moi?t nTejj;nlar charac- 
ter may not f)e redeemed. The mistakes of one sex 
find a retreat in patriotism, tho^e of the other in de- 
votion. Mr. Wilkes brought with him into i-oiitics 
the same liberal sentiments by which his [)rivate con- 
duct had hcfu directed; and seemed to tliink, that, 
as liiere are few excesses in w hi; ii an English gentle- 
man may not be peimi'ted to indulge, the same lati- 
tude was allowed ium in the choice of his political 
principles, and in the spirit of maintaining them. I 
mean to state, not entirely to defend, his conduct. 
Jn the parneslness of his zeal, he suff-red some un- 
wairautable insinuations to escape^ him. He said 
more than moderate men would jsislify; but not 
enough to entitle him to the honour of your Majes- 
ty's personal resentment. The rays of royal indigna- 
tion, collected upon him, served only to illuminate, 
and could not consume. Animated by the favour of 
the people on the one side, and hrated by persecutioa 
on the other, his vie>vs and sentiments changed with 
his situation. Hardly serious at fiist, he is now^ ati 
enthusiast. The coldest bodi«-s warm with opposition, 
the hardest sparkle in collision. There is a holy 
mistaken ?eal in politics, as well as religion. By 
persuading others, we convince ourselves. The pas- 
sions are engaged, and create a maternal affection in 
the mind, which forces us to love the cau'-e for which 
we sudei-. Is this a contention worthy of a king? 
Are you not sensible how much the meanness of the 
cause gives an air of ridicule to the serious difRculties 
into which you have been betrayed? The destruction 
of one man has been now, for many years, the sole 
object of your srovernment; and, if there can be any 
thing still more disf^raceful, we have seen, for suchau 
ol>ject, tlie utmost influence of the executive power, 
and every ministerial artifice, exerted without success. 
Nor can you ever succeed, unless he should be impru- 
dent enouih to forfeit ihr protection of those laws to 
which you owe your crown; or imless your ministers 
should persuade you to make it a question of force 
ulone, and try the whole strength of government ia 



142 JUNIUS. 

opposition to the people. The lessons he ha.? receiv- 1 
ed , from experience, will probably guard him fVoai 
sucli excess ot folly j and, in your M.ijesty's virtues, 
we find an unquestionable assurance, that no illegal 
violence will be attempted. 

Far from suspecting you of so horrible a design, w-e 
would attribute this continued violation of tlie laws, 
and even the last enormous attack upon tLse vital 
principles of the constitution, to an iil-advised, un- 
worthy, personal resentmeDt. l-'runi one laise step^ 
you iiave been betra ed into another; and, as the 
cause was unworthy of you, your niini.ters were de- 
termined that tlie prudence of the execuiion should 
correspond with the wisdom and dignity of the de- 
sign. They have reduced you to the nece.-sity of 
choosing out of a variety of diflSciilties; to a situation 
so unhappy, that you can neither do wrong w.Liiout 
ruin, or right witiiout affliction. These worthy ser- 
vants have undoubtedly given you many singular 
proofs of their abilities. Not contented with making 
Mr. Wilkes a man of importance, they have judi- 
ciously transferred the question from the rights and 
interests of one man, to the most important rights and 
interests of the people ; and forced your subjects, 
from wishing well to the cause of an individual, to 
unite with him in their own. Let them proceed as 
they have begun, and your Majesty need not doubt 
that tlie cata>strophe will do no dishonour to the con- 
duct of the piece. 

The circumstances to which you are reduced, will 
not admit of a compromise with tiie Englis-h nation. 
Undecisive, qualifying measures, will disgrace your 
government still more than open violence: and, with- 
out satisfying the people, will excite their contempt, \^ 
They have too much understanding and spirit to ac- "" 
cept of an indirect satisfaction for a direct injury. 
Nothing less than a repeal, as formal as the resolu- 
tion itself, can heal the wound which h .s been given 
to the constitution, nor will any thing less be accept- 
ed. I can readily believe that there is an influence 
sufficient to recall that pernicious vote. The House 
of Commons undoubtedly considered their duty to the 
Crown as paramount to all other obligations. To us 
they are only indebted for an accidental existence, 
asd kare justly traaifeireel their gratitude from their 



3DNIUS. 143 

^parents to their benefactors ; from those •who gave 
Hieiii ;>iitl). lo the uiinister, from whose bonevolt>nce 
!theyd:-rive tiie com!orts and pleasurosofuieir politi- 
cal !;. I , who has takf-n the tenderest care of their iu- 
J"?licv, and relieves triiMr npcessifies, -vithout otfi-nding 
tholr deiic.'Cy. But, if it were possible .or tlieir in- 
tercity to bp degraded to a condiuon so vile and ab- 
ject, that, compared with it, the prest-nt estimation 
thcystindin is h state of nnuour and respect, con- 
Bid-r, fcSsi. in v.iiat m inner you will afterward-; pro- 
ceed. Cap you conceive tlidtthe people of this coun- 
try wi.l loo^ submit to be governed by ?o flexible a 
House 01 C mimons P It is not in the n:iture of human 
society, til it any ibrm of government, in such circum- 
stances, can long be preserved In ours, the general 
contempt olthe people is as f^talas theirdetestation. 
Sue 1, 1 am persuaded, would be the necessary effect 
of any base concession made by the present House 
of Commons; and, as a qualifying measure would not 
be accepted, it remains for you to decide, whether 
vou will, at any iiazard, support a set of men who 
have reduced you to this unhappy dilemma, or whe- 
ther you will gratify the united wishes of the whole 
people of England, by dissolving the parliament. 

Taking it for granted, as 1 do very sincerely, that 
you liave personally no design against the con- 
stitution, nor any view inconsistent with the good of 
your subjects, I think you cannot hesitate long upon 
the choice which it equally concerns yojir interest 
and your honour to adopt. On one side, you hazard 
the affection of all your English subjects ; you relin- 

auish every hope of repose to yourself, and you en- 
anger the establishment of your family for ever. 
Alltliisyou venture for no object whatsoever; or, 
for such an object as it would be an affront to you to 
name. Men of sense will examine your conduct with 
suspicion; while tliose, who are incapable of com- 
prehending to what decree they are injured, afliict 
you with clamours equally insolent and unmeaning. 
Supposing it possible that no fatal strnggle should 
ensue, you determine, at once, to be unhappy, with- 
out the hope of a compensation, eitber from interest 
or ambition. If an English King be hated or des- 
pised, he must be unhappy : and this, perhaps, is the 
»nly political tratk wkish h» ought to be •okvIqc^^ 



lU JUNIUS. 

of, without experiment. But, if the English people j 
should no longer confine their resentment to a sub- 
missive tepresentntion oi their wrongs; if, foliowinff ! 
the glorious example of their ancestors, they should 
no longer appeai to the creature of the constitnlion, 
but to that liigh being, who gave them the rights of 
humanity, whose gifts it were sacrilet;e to surrender, 
let me ask you, Sir, upon what part of your subjects 
would yon rely for assistance? 

The people of ireland have been uniformly plun- 
dered and oppressed. In return, hey giveyou every 
d ly freiii marks of their resentment. They despise 
t!ie miserable governor* yon havesent t'lem, because 
he is llie creature of Loid Bute: nor is it lYom any 
natural coiifusioii in their ideas, that they are so rea- 
dy to confound tlie original of a king, with the dis- 
graceful representation of him. 

The distance of the colonies would make it impos- 
sible for them to take an active concern in your af- 
fairs, if they were as well affected to your govern- 
ment, as they once pretended to be to your person. 
They were ready enough to dislingr.ish between you 
and your ministers. Tliey complained of an act of 
the lej;islature, but tracei' the origin of it no higher 
than to the servants of the crows: they pleased them- 
selves with the hope that their sovereign, if not fa- 
vourable to their cause, at least vva^ impartial The de- 
cisive personal partyou took against them has effectu- 
ally banisiied that tirst distinction from their minds.f 
They consider you as united with your servants 
against America; and know how to distinguish the 
Sovereign and a venal parliam nt on one side, froni 
the real sentiments of the English people on the 
other. Looking forward to independence, they might 

* Viscount Tnwnshend, sent ovnr on the plan of being re- 
sident Governor. The historyof his ridiculous adminLstra- 
tion shall not he lost to the public. 

t In the King's speech of NovembRr Qth, 1768, it rvas declar- 
ed,"' That the spiri I of faction had broken Old afi-esk in some 
of the colonies, a/jrf in one of than, proceeded to acts of violence 
and resistance to the execution of the laws ; that Buston 7vas 
in a state »f disobedience to all hm's and government, and 
had proceeded to measures subversive of the conttitution^ and 
attended with circumstances that manifested a disposition to 
thron- o^Uicir dependence on Great JS'ii<ci«." 



JUNIUS. 145 

jjossibly receive you for their King; but, if ever you 
i^etire to America, be assured, tijat tfiey will give 
.7011 such a covenant to digest, as the presbytery of 
■^Scotland would have been a?hamed to offer to Charles 
tlie Second. They left their n;»tive land in search 
bf freedom, and found it in a des'^rt. Divided as 
they are into a tliousand forms of policy and religion, 
!there is one point in which they all agree.: they 
'equally detest the pageantry of a king, and the 
superciliou' hypocrisy of a bishop. 

It is not, then, from tlie alienated affections of Ire- 
land or Ainericn, that you can reasonably look for 
assistance; still less froin the people of En-land, who 
are actually coiitendlns? for their rigihts, and in this 
great question are parties against you. You are not, 
however, destitute of every appearance of sii-jport; 
you have all the Jacobites, Nonjurors, Roman Catho- 
lics, and Tories of this country, and all Scotland, 
■without exce tion. Considering from what family 
vou are descended, the choice of your friends has 
been sin2;'ilarly dix'cted; and truly, Sir, if you had 
not lost tile whig interest of England, I should admire 
your dexterity in turning the hearts of your enemies. 
Is it possible for you to place any confidence in m n, 
who, before they are fiithful to you, aiust reno'.aice 
TBV!-ry opinion, and betray every princi!>Ie, both ia 
churcli and state, wfiich they inlierit from their an- 
cestors, and are confirmed in by their education ? 
whose numbers are so inconsiderable, that they have 
lon>: since bfpn obliged to give up the principles and 
language which distinguish them as a party, and to 
B;;ht under tlie banners of their enemies p Their zeal 
begins with liypocrisy, and must conclude in treach- 
ery. At first they deiceive— at lastthty betray. 

As to the Scotch, I must sunpose your heart and 
understanding so biased, from your earliest infancy, 
in tlieir favour, that nothing less than your otvn mis- 
fortunes can undeceive you, Vou will not accept of 
tijeiiniform «'XperisMice of your ancestors; and v^^hen 
once a m n is determined to believe, the very absur- 
dity of the doctrine confirms him iu his faith. A bi- 
jroted understanding can draw a proof of attachment 
to the House of Hanover, from a notorious zeal for 
the House of Stuart, and find an earnest of future loy- 
ally infornaer rebellions. Appearances are, however, 



146 JUNIUS. 

in their favour: go strongly indt^ed that one woiJtl, 
think they had forgotten that you are their lawful 
King, and had rnistnken you for a Pretender to the 
Crown. Let it be admitted, then, that the Scotch are 
as sincere in theii' ()\esent professions, as if you were, 
in reality not an Englishman, but a Biiton of the 
North. You would not be t!ie first prince of their 
native country, against whom they have rebelled, 
nor the first whom they have basely betrayed. Have 
you foigottcn. Sir, or has your favotnite concealed 
from you that part of our history, when the unhappy 
Charles (and he, too, had piivate virtues) fled from 
the open, avowed indignation of hii Englisii subjects^ 
and surrendered himself at discretion to the good 
faith of his own countrymen p V\ ithout looking for 
supportin tlieir affections as subjects, he applied only 
to their honour, as gentlemen, for protection. They 
received him, as they would your Majesty, with 
bows, and smiles, and falsehood, and kept iiim until 
they had settled their bargain with the Eniilish par- 
liament ; tiien basely sold their native King to the 
vengeance of his enemies. This, Sir, was not the act 
of a few traitors, but the deliberate treachery of a 
Scotch parliament, representing the nation. A wise 
prince might draw from it two lessons of equal utility 
to himself. On one side, he might learn to dread the 
undisguised resentment of a generous people, who 
dare openly assert their riglits, and who, in a just 
cause, are ready to meet their Sovereign in the field. 
On the other side, he would be tiught to apprehend 
something far more formidable ; a fawning treachery, 
against whicli no prudeucecan guard, no couragecan 
defend. The insidious smile upon the cheek would 
warn him of t!:>^ canker in the heart. 

From tlie uses to wliich one part of the army has 
been too frequently applied, you have some reason 
to expect tliat there are no sei vices ihey would refuse. 
Here, too, we trace the partiality of your understand- 
ing. You take the sense of the army from tlie con- 
du'ctof the guards, with the same justice with which 
you collect the sense of the people from the repre- 
sentationsofthe Ministry. Your marching regiments, 
Sir, will not make the guard.*! their exuniTe, either ag 
soldiers or subjects. They f* el and resent, as they ought 
to do, that iuvariable'undistinsuishing favour with 



JUNIUS. H7 

Which the guards are treated'';* while tliose gallant 
'itronps, by whom every hazardous, every laborious 
s^Bervicf- is performed, are left to perish in jrarrison* 
-abroad, or pine in quarters at home, neglected and 
forgotten. If they had no sense of the great original 
^diitv they owe to their country, their resentment 
•would operate like patriotism, and leave your cause 
to be defended by those on whom you have lavished 
■'the rewards and honours of their profession. Tlie 
^•Prcetorian batids, enervated and debauched as tliey 
' were, had still strength enough to awe the Romao 
•populace; but when the distant legions took the 
■alarm, t!iey marched to Rome, and gave away the 
'•empire. 

On tins side, then, which ever way you turn your 
eyes, vou see nothing but perplexity and djstress. 
' You may determine to support the very Ministry 
who have reduced your affairs to this deplorable 
pituatiou; you may shelter yourself under the forms 
of a parliament, and set the people at defiance; but 
be assured. Sir, that such a resolution would he as 
imprudent as it would be odious. If it did not Imme- 
diately shake your establishment, it would rob you 
t>f vour peace of mind for ever. 

On the other, how different is the prospect ! How 
»a-y, iiow safe and honourable is the path before 
I you ! The En:j;lish nation declare they are grossly 
injired by their representatives, and solicit your Ma- 
jesty to exert yor.r lawful prerogative, and give them 
an opportunity of recalling a trust, which they find 
has been scandalously abused. You are not to be 
told, that the power of the House of Commons is not 
Oriiiinal, but delegated to them for the welfare of the 
peo^ile from whom tiiey received it. A question of 

*Th£ number of cnmmissisned officers in the guards are to the 
marching regiments as one to eleven : the nvmber of regiments 
given to the guards, compared niUi those given to the line, is 
about three to one at a moderate computation; coiiseqvenVr/, 
the pnrtialiti in favour of the gvarda is as thirty-three to one. 
So much for the n/flcers. The private men have four pence a- 
dny to subsist on, and five hundred l.iskes if they desert. Un- 
der this punishment Ihe.y freqwntly expire. With these tn- 
coura'^cments, it is supposed, they may be depended upon, when- 
ever a certain person, thinks it ■necessary to butcher his feUom 
subjects. 



U& JUNIUS. 

rlnrht arises between the corvstitiient and the repr< 
sentative body. By what authority shall it be dec 
dedp Will your Majesty interfere in a qrestion, i 
which you hive, properly, no immediate concern? , 
would be a step equally odious and unnpcessar] 
Shall the Lords be called upon to determine th 
riglits and privileges o\ the Commons P Fhey cann< 
do it without a flagrant bre.ich of the constitiitioi 
Or, will you refer it to (hej id^esp They have ofte 
told your ancestors that the law of parliament / 
above them- What parly then remains but to leav 
it to the peof.le to determiiie for tlieni^elvesp The 
alone are injured; and since t'were is no superi< 
power to which tiie cause can be referred, they alor . 
ought to determine. 

1 do not mean to perplex you with a tedious ar!:^i 
ment upon a subject already so di<cussed that insp 
ration could hardlj' throw a new liaiiit up(>n it. Thei 
are, however, two points oi view in which it partici' 
larly imports your Majesty to consider the late pr 
ceediilgs of the Mouse of Commons. By depiivinsj 
subject of his birth-right, tliey have attributed to the • 
own vote an authority equal to an act of the who : 
legisliture; and thou<ih, perhaps, not with the saii. 
raotives, have strictly followed the eximjile oft) 
Lon2 Parliament, which first declared the regal ofR( 
useless, and soon after, witii as little ceremony, di 
solved tlie House of Lords. The same pretend* 
power which robs an EnsH^h subject of his birtl. 
right, may rob an Ensii-vh Kin^ of his crown, i 
another view, the resolution of the House of Con 
nioiis, apparently not so dangei-ous to your Majest; 
is still more alarming to your people. Not contents 
with devesting one man of his right, they have arb. 
trarily conveyed that right to another. They \ya\ ■ 
set aside a return as iUegnl, without daring to c^ 
sure those officers who were particularly apprized 
Mr. Wilkes's incapacity, not only by the declaratic 
of the House, but expressly by the writ directed t 
them, and who, ncverthek'ss, returned him as dul 
elected. They have reject-d the majority of vote 
the only criterion by which our laws judge of tl: 
sense of the people; they have transierred the rigl 
of election from the collective to the represeutativ 
body ; and by these acts, taken separately or tog* 



JUNIUS. 149 

i<ber, they have essentially altered the original con- 

'iitntion of the House of Commons. Versed, as your 

^lajesty undoubtedly is, in the English history, it 

■ *nnot escape yon, how much it is your interest, as 

''\[ IS your duty, to prevent one of the three estates 

encroaching upon the province of the other two, 

^-liming the authority of them all, Whert ouce 

. jey have departed from the great coustitutional line, 

^•/ u'hich nil their proceedings should be directed, who 

V ill answer for tlieir future moderation ? Or what 
<^)surance will they give you, that when they have 
i'ampled upon their equals, they will submit to a 

•perior p Your Majesty may learn hereafter how 
/early the slave and tyrant are allied. 
Some of your council, more candid than the rest, 
imit the abandoned profligacy of the present House 
"Commons, but oppose their dissolution, upon an 
,))niou, I confess, not very unwarrantable, thattheir 
ccessors would be equally at the disposal of the 
easnry. I cannot persuade myself that the nation 

V ill have profited so little by experience. But, if that 
( oinion were well founded, you might then gratify our 

V ishes at an easy rate, and appease the present cla- 
: our against your government, without offering any 
; iterial injury to the favourite cause of corruption. 

Von have still an honourable part to act. The 

a tactions of your subjects may still he recovered. 

1i it, before you subdue their hearts, you must gain a 

•'ie victory over your own. Discard those little 

iiai resentments, which have too long directed 

r juhlic conduct. Pardon this man the remainder 

liis punishment; and, if resentment still prevails, 

kc it, what it should have been long since, an act, 

, of mercy, but of contempt He will soon fall back 

.10 his natural station; a silent senator, and hardly 

vj. porting the weekly eloqurnce of a newspaper. The 

"I tie breath of peace would leave him on the sur- 

->, neglected and unrcmoved. It is only the tern- 

t th;Ht lifts him from his place. ^ 

Vithout consulting your Minister, call together 

ir whole council. Let it appear to the public, that 

I can determine and act for yourself. Come for- 

•d to your people Lay aside the wretched for- 

ities of a King, and speak to your subjects with the 

■ it of a man, and the language of a gentleman. 



\bO JUNIUS. 

Tell tbem .vou have been fitally deceived. The ac-| 
knowledgment will be no disgrace, but rather ati ho- 
nour, to your understanding. Tell them yon are de- 
termined to remove every cause of complaint against 
your government; that you will give yoiir confidence 
to no man, who does not possess the confidence of 
your subjects ; and leave it to themselves to deter- 
mine, by their conduct at a future election, whelher 
or no il be, in reality, the general ^<c-nH' of tlie nation^ 
that their rights have been arbitrarily invaded by th* 
present House of Common?, and the constitution be- 
trayed. They will then do justice to their represent- 
atives and to themselves. 

These sentiments. Sir, and the style they are con- 
veyed in, may be ofTensive, perhaps, because they are 
new to you. Accustomed to the language of courtiers^ 
you measure tlieir affoctinnsby the vehemence of therr 
e\pres?ions; and when they only prai:-e you indiffer- 
ently, you admire their sincerity. But thi^i is not a 
time to trifle with your forttme. They deceive you, 
Sir, who tell you that you have many frirnds, whose 
alfections are founded upon a principle of personal 
attachment. The first foundatiotJ of friendship is not 
the power of conferring benefits, but (lie equality with 
which they are received, and may be returned. The 
fortune which madej'ou a Ki?)g, forbade you to have 
a friend. It is a law of nature, which cannot be vio- 
lated with ifnpunity. The mistaken Prir.ce, who looks 
for friendship, vviil (ind a favourite, and in that favour- 
ite the ruin of hi? alfairs. 

The people of England are loyal to the House of 
Hanover; not from a vain preference of one family 
to another, but from a conviction, that the estabiish- 
in.'>nt of that family was necessary to the support of 
tlieir civil and religious liberties. This, Sir, is a prlt»- 
tiple of allegiance equally solid and rational; fit f»r 
Englishmen to adopt, and well worthy of your Mj- 
jestyV encouragement. We cannot long be deluded 
by nominal distinctions. The name of Stuart, of 
itself, is only contomptihle; armed with the sove- 
reign authority, their principles are formidable. Tlie 
prince who imitates their conduct, should be warned 
hy their example; and, while he plumes himself upon 
ik\ie security of hh title to the crown, should remember^ 



Jl/NIUS. 151 

that, as it was acquired *by one revolution, it may bs 
lost by another. JUNIUS. 



LETTER XXXVr. 

, To his Grace the Duke of Graf ton. 

ji^lORD, February 14, 17T0. 

If I were personally your enemy, I might pity and 
• forgive yon. You have every claim to compassion 
that can arise from misery and distress. The condi- 
tion yon are reduced to would disarm a private ene- 
9 my of his resentment, and leave no consolation to 
: the most vindictive spirit, but that such an object as 
T you are would disgrace the dignity of revenge. ■ But, 
■ in the relation you have borne to tliis country, yon 
jr have no title to indulgence ; and if I had followed the 
,1 dictates of my own opinion, I never should have al- 
1 lowed 3'ou the respite of a moment. In your public 
1 character, you have injured every subject of the em- 
; pire; and though an individual is not authorized to 
f forgive the injuries done to society, he is called upon 
•to assert his separate share in the public resentment, 
i I submitted, however, to the judgment of men, more 
moderate, perhaps more candid, than myself. For 
1 my own part, I do not pretend to understand those 
1 prudent forms of decorum, those gentle rules of discre- 
tion, which some men endeavour to unite with the 
,-• conduct of the greate.«t and most hazardous affairs. 
1 Engaged in the defence of an honourable cause,'! 
I would take a decisive part. I should scorn to pro- 
nvide for a future retreat, or to keep terms with a 
J man wlio preserves no measures with the public. 
I Neither the abject submission of deserting his post in 
< the hour of dangei', nor even the* sacred shield of 
I cowardice should protect him. 1 would pursue hiirt 
( through life, and try the last exertion of ray abilities 
> to preserve the perishable infamy of his name, and 
taiake it immortal. 

What then, my Lord.? le this the event of all th» 

* Sacro tremuere titnore. Erenj eorvard prcUnds $> 

' tf fUiTitt- struck. 



}52 JUNIUS. 

sacrifice? you have made to Lord Bute's patroirage, 
and to your own unfortunate ambition ? Was it for 
this you abandoned your earliest frieudgbips, the 
warmest connexions of your youth, and all those lio- 
nourable engagements by which you once solicited, 
and might liave acquired, the esteem of your coun- 
try? Have you secured no recompense for such a 
waste of honour? Unhappy man! what party will 
receive the common deserter of ail partietf? Without 
a client to flatter, without a friend to console you, 
and with only one companion from the honest house 
of Bioomsbury, you must now retire into a dreadful 
solitude. At the most active period of life you mus;t 
quit the busy scene, and conceal yourself from the 
world, if you would hope to save the wretched re- 
mains of a roined reputation. The vices operate like 
age, hiing on disease before its time, and in the prime 
of youth leave the character broken and exhausted. 

Yet your conduct has been mysterious, as well as 
contemptible. Where is now that firmness^ or obsti- 
nacy, so long boasted of by your ftiends, and acknow- 
ledged by your enemies? VVe were taught to expect 
that you would not leave the ruin of this country to 
be completed by other hands, but were deternoiued 
either to gain a decisive victory over <he constitu- 
tion, or to perish bravely, at least, behind the last 
dyke of the prerogative. You knew the danger, and 
might have been provided for it. You took sufficient 
time to prepare for a meeting with your parliament, 
to confirm the mercenary fidelity of your dependants, 
and to suggest to your Sovereign a language suited to 
his dignity at least, if not to his benevolence and 
wisdom. "Vet, while the whole kingdom was ^.gitated 
with anxious e.xpectation upon one great point, you 
meanly evaded the question, and, instead of the ex- 
plicit firmness and decision of a king, gave us notliing 
but the misery of a ruined" graziei", and the whining 
of a Methodist. We h d reason to expect, that no- 
tice would havebeen taken of the petitions which the 
King had received from tiie English nation ; and 
although I can conceive some personal motives for 
not yielding to them, I can find none, in common 

* Thert was somdhing nienderftittif pathttic i» tfu mcniiin 
»/t1u horned cattle, 



JUNIUS. 153 

-prudence or decency, for treating them with con- 
tempt. Be assured, ray Lord, the English people 
will not tamely submit to this onworthy treatment. 
They had a rifht to be heard; and their petitions, if 
not granted, deserved to be considered. Whatever 
he the real views and doctrine of a court, the Sove- 
reign should be tauglit to preserve some forms of 
attention to his subjects ; and, if he will not redress 
their grievances, not to make them a topic of jest 
and mockery among lords and ladies of the bed- 
chamber. Injuries may be atoned for and forgiven ; 
but insults admit of no compensation. They degrade 
the mind in its own esteem, and force it to recover its 
level by revenge. This neglect of the petitions was, 
however, a part of your original plan of government; 
nor will any consequences it has produced, account 
for your deserting your Sovereign, in the midst of 
that distress, in which you and your* new friends 
have involved him. One would think, ray Lord, yoti 
might have taken this spirited resolution before yoii 
had dissolved the last of those early connexions, 
which once, even in your own opinion, did honour to 
your youth ; before you had obliged Lord 6ranby to 
quit a service he was attached to; before yon had 
discarded one chancellor, and killed another. To 
what an abject condition have you laboured to re- 
duce the best of Princes, when the unhappy man, 
who yields at last to such personal instance and 
solicitation, as never can be fairly employed against 
a subject, feels himself degraded by his compliance, 
and is unable to survive the disgraceful honourn 
which his gracious Sovereign had compelled him to 
accept! He was a man of spirit, for he had a quick 
sense of shame, and death has redeemed iiis charac- 
ter. I know your Grace too well to appeal to your 
feelings upon this event; but there is another heart, 
not yet, I hope, quite callous to the touch of human- 
ity, to which it ought to He a dreadful lesson for 
ever.f 

Now, my Lord, let us consider the situation to 

* The Bedford party. 

t Tht most secret particular of this detestable transaction 
tkall in due time be given to the public. The.peoplt shall kntn 
nhai kind of man thty have to deal tvith. 



134 JUNIUS. 

which you have cenducted, and in. which yon have 
thought it advisable to abandon your Royal Master, 
Whenever the people have complained, and nothing 
better could be said in defence of the measures of gov- 
ernment, it has been the fashion to answeriip, thougli 
not very fairly, with an appeal to the private virtues 
«f your Sovereign : "Has he not to relieve the peo- 
ple, surrendered a considerable part of his revenue? 
Has he not made tbe jud,T;es independeat, by fixiag 
them in their places for li^p" My Lord, we acknow- 
ledge the gracious principle which gave birth to these 
concessions, and have nothing to regret, but that it 
has never been adhered to. At the end of srven 
years, we are loaded with a debt of above five hun- 
dred thousand poundibv.pon the civil listj and now we 
see the chancellor of Great Britain tyrannically 
forced oat of his office, not for want of abilities, not 
for want of integrity, or of attention to his duty, but 
for delivering his honest opinion in parliament, upon 
the greatest constitutional question that has arisen 
since the revolution. We care not to whose private 
virtues you appeal. The theory of such a govern- 
ment is falsehood and mockery; the practice is op- 
pression. You have laboured then (though, I confess, 
to no purpose) to rob your master of the only plau- 
sible answer that ever was given iq derence of his 
government — of the opinion which the people had 
conceived of his personal honour and integrity. The 
Duke of Bedford was more moderate than your 
Grace: he only forced his master to violate a solemn 
promise made to an* individual ; but you, My Lord, 
have successfully extended your advice to every po- 
litical, every moral engae;emeut, that could bind ei- 
ther the magistrate or the man. The condition of a 
King is often miserable ; but it required your Grace's 
abilities to make it couteraptible. You will say, per- 
haps, that the faithful servants, in whose hands you 
have lefthijn,, are able to retrieve his hgift'our, and to 
support his government. You have publicly declared 
€ver since your resignation, that you a.pproved of 
their measure?, and admired their conduct, parti- 
cularly that of the Earl of Sandwich. What a pity 
it is, that, with all this appearance, you should thinit 

■^■■MT.SUmtM'Ken;;iL 



JUNIUS. U5 

it necessary to separate youraelt' from such amiable 
conipanions ! You forgft, My Lord, that, while you 
are lavish in the praise of men whom you desert, you 
are publicly opposing 3'our conduct to your opinions, 
and depriving yourself of the only plausible pretence 
you bad for leaving your Sovereign overwhelined 
with distres?. I call it plausible ; for,1Tl' truth, there 
i' no reason whatsoever, less than the frowns. of your 
Master, that could justify a man of spirit for aban- 
doning bis post at a moment so critical and impor- 
tant. Itis in vain to evade the question : if you will 
not speak out, the public have a right to judge from 
appearances. We are authorized to conclude, that 
you either differed from yoiu- colleagues, whose mea- 
sures you still affect to defend, or that you thought 
the administration of the King's affairs no longer ten- 
able. Vou are at liberty to choose between the hy- 
pocrite and the coward. Your best friends are in 
doubt which way they shall incline. Your countr}'' 
unites the characters, and gives you credit for them 
both. For my own part, I see nothing inconsistent ia 
your conduct. You began with betraying the people j 
you conclude with betraying the King. 

In your treatment of particular person.^, you have 
preserved the uniformity of your character. Even 
Mr. Bradshaw declares, that no man was ever so ill 
used as himself. As to t!ie provision* you have made 
for his family, he was entitled to it by the house ho 
lives iu. The successor of one Chancellor might well 
pretend to be the rival of another. It is the breach 

* A pension of mOOl. per annum, ensured upon thejour one- 
half per cents, (he was too cunning to trust to Irisfi sccurili/)/'or 
tke lives ofhlmtclf and his sons. This gcntlconan. nho a ver^ 
few }iears ago, was contractorfor forage, and fi/tcr,vards ex- 
altedto apdtyposl in the war ojjlce, thought it necessary (as 
iooii as he was appointed Secrciari/ to the Treasury) to take- 
that great house in LincoWs Inn Fields, in which the Earl of 
JSorlhingtou had resided, while he was Lord High Chaacdlor 
of Gnat Britain, yls to the pension, Lord North very solemn- 
ly assured the House qf Commons, that no pension was ever so 
well deserved as Mr. Bradshaw's. iV. H Lord Camden and 
Sir Jefferif Amherst are not near so well provided for : aad Sir 
Edward Hawke, ivho saved the state, retires with two thousa.id 
•pounds a year on the Irish tilabUshment, from wMeh A^, iti 
fact, rcitivts lest than Mr. Srad,shaie's pciuiinh 



15G jyKius. 

of private friendship which touches Mr. Bradsiiawr 
and, to say the truth, when a man of his rank and 
abilities had taken 30 active a part in your afiairs, he 
ought not to have been let down at last with a mise- 
rable pension of fifteen hundred pounds a-year. Col- 
onel Luttrell, Mr. Onslow, and Governor Burgoyne, 
were equally engaged with yon, and have rather 
more reason to complain than Mr. Bradshaw. These 
are unjn, my Lord, whose frieiidship you sliouldhave 
adhered to on the same princii^lcs on which yon de- 
serted Lord Rockingham, Lord Chatham, Lord Cam- 
den, and the Duke of Portland. We can easily ac- 
count for your violating your engagement with men 
of honour; but why should you betray your natural 
connexions? why seperaie youiscif from Lord .'Sand- 
wich, Lord Gower, and Mr. Ri^by; or leave tlielhree 
worthy gentlemen above mentioned to shift forthem- 
fJF'lves.^ U'ith all the fashionable indulgence of the 
times, this country does not aboinid in characters like 
theirs ; aud yon may find it a very difficftlt matter to 
recruit the black catalogue of your friends. 

The recollection of the royal patent you sold to 
Mr. Mine, obliges me to say a word in defence of a 
man, whom you have taken the most dishonourable 
means to injure. I do not refer to the sham prose- 
cution whicli you affected to carry on against him. 
On that ground, I donbt not, he is prepared to meet 
yau with ten fold recrimination, and set you at de- 
iionce. The injury you had done him affects his mo- 
ral character. You knew that the offer to purchase 
the reversion of a place, which has heretofore been 
sold under a decree of the Court of Chancery, how- 
ever imprudent in bis situation, would no way tend 
to cover him with that <<ort of guilt which you wished 
to fiK upon liim in the eyes of the world. You la- 
boured then, by eveiy species of false suggestion, 
and even by publishing counterfeit letters, to have it 
understood, that he had proposed terms of accom- 
modation to you, and had ofFned to abandon iiia 
principles, his party, and his friend<!. Yon consulted 
your own breastfor acharacter of consummate treach- 
ery, and gave it tothcpublicforthat of Mr. Vauglian. 
I think myself obliged to do this justice to an injured 
tna», because I was deceived by the appearances 
thrown out by your Grace, and have frequently spo- 



JlfNIUS. 157 

ken of 1)ts conduct withindiijnatlon. If lie f Sally be 
Avhat I tliink him, honest, thoujrh mistaken, he will be 
happy in ificovering his reputation, though at the ex- 
pense of his understanding. Here I pee the matter 
IS likely to rest. Your (irace is afraid to carry oit 
the prosecution. Mr. Hine keeps quiet possession of 
his purchase ; andGovfrrnor Burgo^'ue, relieved from 
the apprehension of refunding; the money, sits down, 
for the remainder of his life, infamous and conteiUed. 
I believe my Lord, I may now take my leave of 
you for ever. You are no longer tliat resolute Min- 
ister, who had spirit to support the most violent mea- 
Bures; who compensated for the want of good and 
great qualities, by a brave determination ^which, 
some people admired and relied on) to maintain him- 
self without them. The reputation of obstinacy and 
perseverance might have supplied the place of all the 
absent virtues. You have now added the last nega- 
tive to your character, and meanly confessed that you 
are destitute of the common spirit of a man. Retire 
then. My Lord, and hide yonr blushes from the world j 
for, with such a load of shame, even blackmny change 
its colour. A mind, snch us yours, in the solitary- 
hours of domestic enjoyment, may still find topics of 
consolation. You may find it in the memory of vi- 
olated friendship; in the afflictions of an accorrtplished 
Prince, whom you have disgraced and deserted ; and 
in the agitations of a great country, driven by your 
counsels to the brink of destruction. 

Tiie palm of miuisterial firmness is now transferred 
to Lord North. He tells us so himself, and with the 
plenitude of the frre rotundo;* and I am ready 
enough to believe, that, while he can keep his place, 
he will not easily be persuaded to resign it. Your 
Grace wasthefirin Minister of yesterday ; LordNortli 
i.< tiie firm Minister of to day. To-morrow, perhips, 
his Majesty ia his wisdom may give us a rival for yoti 
both. You are too well acquainted with the temper 
of your late allies, to think it pos>ihle that Lord North 
should be permitted to govern this country. If we 
may believe common fame, they have shown him 

* This ehqvent person has got as far nt the discipline o/> 
Dimosthfnts. He constantly svcakt niih pebbles in his mouth', 
io iwpTove his articulation. 

g2 



158 JUNIUS, 

their siiperiority already. His Majesty is, indeed; 
too gracious to insult his subjects, by choosing his first 
Minister from among $}ie domestics of the Duke of 
Bedford ; that would have been to© gross an outrage 
to the three kingdoms. Their purpose, however, is 
equally answered, by pushing forward this unhappy 
figure, and forcing it to bear the odium of measures 
which they in reality direct. Without immediately 
appearing to govern, they possess the power, and dis- 
tribute the emoluments, of government, as they think 
proper. They still adhere to the spirit of that cal- 
culation,, which made Mr. Luttrell representative of 
Middlesex. Far from regretting your retreat, they 
assure us, very gravely, thnt it increases the real 
strength of the iVIinistry. According to this way of 
reasoning, they will probably grow stronger and more 
Jiourishing, every hour tiiey exist; for I think there 
is hardly a day passes in which some one or other of 
his Majesty's servants does not leave them to improve, 
by the loss of his a.ss»gtance. But, alas ! their coun- 
tenances speak a different language. When the mem- 
berg drop off^ the main body cannot be insensible of 
its approaching dissolution. Even the violence of their 
proceedings is a signal of despair. Like broken te- 
•oants, who have had warning to quit tlie premises, 
they curse their landlord, destroy the fixtures, throw 
f very thing into confusion, and care not what mis- 
chief they do to the estate. 

JUNIUS, 



LETTER XXXVII. 

To the PrinUr of the Puhlu Jdvertisen 

SiH, March 19, 1770. 

I BELIEVE there is no man, however indifferent 
about the interests of this country, wlio wi 1 not rea- 
dily confess, that the situation to which we are now 
reduced, whether it has arisen from the violence of 
faction, or from an arbitrary system of government, 
justifies the mofet melancholy apprehensions, and calb 
for the exertion of whatever wisdom or vigour is left 
among its. The King's answer to the remonstrance 



'Of the City of London, and the measures since adopt- 
ed by the Ministry, amount to a plain declaration, 
that the principle on which Mr. Luttrell was seated <- 
in the House of Common?, is to be supported in all its 
consequences, and carried to its utmost extent. The 
same spirit which violated the freedom of election, 
now invades the declaration and hill of rights, and 
threatens to punish tije subject for exercising a privi- 
lege hitherto undisputed, of petitioning the crown. 
The grievances of the people are aggravated by in- 
sults ; their complaints not merely disregarded,' but 
checked by authority; and every one of those acts 
against which they remonstrated, confirmed by the 
King's decisive approbation. At such a moment, no 
honest man will remain silent or inactive. However 
distinguished by rank or property, in the rights of 
freedom we are all equal. As we are Englishmen, 
tlie least considerable man among us has an interest 
equal to the proudest nobleman in the laws and con- 
stitution of his country, and is equally called u on to 
make a generous contnbution in support of t-^emj 
whether it be the heart to conceive, the undorstand- 
»!}g to direct, or the hand to execute. It i? a common 
cause in which we are all interested, in which we 
should all be engaged. The man who deserts it at 
this alarming crisis is an enemy to his country, and, 
wliat I think of infinitely less importance, a traitor 
to his Soverei^ftl The subjpct, who is tr<ily loyal to 
the Chief Magistrate, will neither advi«e or submit 
to arbitrary measures. The City of London hath 
given an example, which I doubt not, will be followed 
^ by the whole kingdom. The noble spirit of the me- 
tropolis is the life blood of the state, collected at the 
heart; from that point it circulates, with health and 
vigour, through every artery of the constitution. 
The time is come when the body of the English people 
must assert their own cause : conscious of their 
strength, and animated by a sense of their duly, they 
will not surrender tlieir b'irtli right to Ministers, Par- 
liaments, or Kings. The Ciiy of London have ex- 
pressed their sentiments with freedom and firmness ; 
they have s-poken truth boldly ; and, in whatever 
light their remonstrances may be represented by cour- 
tiers, I defy the most subtle lawyer in this country to 
poiat out a single instance in which they have ex- 



;60 JUJN'IUg. 

ceeded the truth. Even that assertion which wc are 
told is most offensive to Parliament, in the theory of 
the English constittition, is strictly true. If any part 
of the representative body be not chosen by the peo- 
ple, that part vitiates and corrupts the whole. If 
ihere be a defect in the representation of the people, 
that power, which alone is equal to the making of 
the laws in this country, is not (;')mpletc, and the acts 
of Parliament, under that circumstance, are not the 
jicts of a pure and entire legislature. I speak of the 
theory of our constitution ; and whatever ditRculties 
or inconveniences may attend the practice, lam Tea- 
dy to maintain that, as far as the {act deviates from 
the principle, so far the practice is vicious and corrupt. 
I have not iieard a question raised upon any othev 
part of the reuionstrance. Tljat the principle 
on which the Middlesex election was determined, is 
more pernicious in its effects than either the levying 
of ship money by Charles the First, or the suspending 
power assumed by his son, will hnrdly be disputed by 
any man who understands or wishes well to the En- 
glish conntituiion. It is not an act of open violencQ 
done by the Kin?, or any direct or palpable breach 
pf the laws attempted by his Minister, that can ever 
endanger the liberties of this conntry. Against such a 
King or Minister the people would immediately take 
the alarm, and all parties unite to oppose him. The 
laws inay be grossly violated in particular instances, 
without any direct attack upon the whole system. 
Facts of that kind stand aloiie; tfiev areaitributed to 
necessity, not defended by priucipie. We can never 
be really in danger, until the forms of pailianient are 
made use of to destroy the tiubttauce of our civil and 
political liberties J until parliament itself betrays its 
trust, by contributing to establish new principles of 
government, and employing the very weapons coin- 
niitt^d -to it by the collective body to stab the coa-. 
stitutioa. ;' 

As for the terms of the remonstrance, ! presume it 
■will not be affirmed, by any person legs polished than 
a gentlemnn usher, that this is a season for compli- 
inents. Our gracious Kiu^', indeed, is abundnntly 
civil to himself. Instead of an answer to a petition, 
his Majesty very graciously pronounces his own pane- 
gyric; and I confess th/at, a^ l^r ?a hi.s pcrsonaj bsha>7 



JUNIUS. 161 

vioiir, or the royal purity of his intentions, is con- 
cerned, the truth of those declarations, which the 
Minister has drawn up for his Master, cannot de- 
cently be disputed. In every other respect, 1 affirm, 
that they are absolutely unsupported either in argu- 
ment or fact. 1 must add, too, th:it supposing the 
speech were otherwise unexceptionable, it is not a 
direct answer to the petition of the City. His Ma- 
jesty is pleased to say, that he is always ready to 
receive the requests of his subjects; yet the sheriffs 
were twice sent back with an excuse; and it wag 
certainly debated, in council, whether or no the 
Magistrates of the City of London should be admit- 
ted to an audience. Whether the remonstrance be 
or be not injurious to Parliament, is the very ques- 
tion between the Parliament and the people, and 
such a question as cannot be decided by the assertion 
of a third party, however respectable. That the 
petitioning for a dissolution of Parliament is irrecon- 
eilable with the principles of the constitution, is -a 
new doctriue. His Majesty, perhaps, has not been 
informed, that the House of Commons themselves 
have, by a formal resolution, admitted it to be the 
right of tlie subject. His Majesty proceeds to assure 
us, that he has made the laws the rule of his conduct. 
Was it in ordering? or permitting his Ministers to ap^ 
prehend Mr. Wilkes by a general warranty Was it 
in suffering his Ministers to revive the obsolete maxiua 
of nullum tempus, to rob the Duke of Portland of his 
property, and thereby give a decisive turn to a county 
election:^ Was it in erecting a chamber consultation 
of surgeons, with authority to examine iuto and super- 
cede tlic legal verdict of a jury p Or did his Majesty 
cougult the laws of this country, when he permitted 
hi? Secretary of State to declare, that, whenever tlie 
civil magistrate is trifled with, a military force must 
be sent for, mahout the delay of a moment, and effec- 
tually employed,'^ Or was it in the barbarous exact- 
ness with which this illegal, inhuman doctrine was 
carried into execution? If his Majesty had recollect- 
ed these facts, I think, he would never have said, at 
least with any reference to the measures of liis go- 
vernment, that he had made the laws the rule of his 
conduct. To talk of preserving the affections, or re- 
lyiug; on the support of his iubjects, while he gontim'.?- 



162 3[UNmS, 

to act upon these principles, is, indeed, paying a conj- 
pliment to their loyaity, which, I hope, they have 
too much spirit and understanding to deserve. 

His Majesty, we are told, is not only punctual in 
the performance of his own duty, but careful not to 
assume any of tho?e powers which the constitution 
ha« placed in other hands. Admitting this last asser- 
tion to be strictly true, it is no way to the purpose. 
The City of London have not desired the King to 
assume a power placed in other hands. If they had, 
I should hope to see the person who dared to present 
such a petition immediately impeached. They solicit 
their Sovereign to exert that constitutional authority 
which the laws have vested in him for the benefit of 
his tubjects. They call upon him to make u«e of his 
lawful prerogative in a case which our laws evidently 
supposed might happen, smce they have provided for 
it by trusting the Sovereign with a discretionary 
power to dissolve the Parliaujent. This request will^ 
I am confident, be supported by remonstrances from 
all parts ©f the kingdom. His Majesty will find, at 
last, that this is the sense of the people; and that it 
is not his interest to support either Ministry or Par- 
liament at the hazard of a breach with the collective 
body of his subects. That he is a King of a free peo- 
ple, is, indeed, his greatest glory. That he may lonfij 
contintie the King of a free people, is the second wish 
that animates my heart. The first is, thai the people 
may bejree* JUNIUS. 



LETTER XXXVIII. 

To the Printer of the Public Adveriisst'. 

sii, April 3, 1770. 

In my last letter I offered you my opinion of the 
truth and propriety of his Majesty's answer to the 

* When kis Majesty had done reading his speech, Vie Lord 
Maifor, Src. hud the honour of kissing his Majesty's hand ; after 
nhich, as they ny.re nnikdranting, his Majesty instantly turned 
round to his courtiers, and burst out a laughing. 

Nero fiddled while Eonae was buroing. _ 

JOBN EORIfZ: 



JUNIUS. WS 

€i<7 of Lotidon> considering it merely as the speech 
of a Minister, drawn up in his own defence, and deli* 
vered, as usual, by the Chief Magistrate. I would 
»parate, as much as possible, the King's personal 
character and beliaviour from the acts of the present 
government. I wish it to be understood that his Ma- 
jesty had, in effect, no more concern in the substance 
of what he said, than Sir James Hodges had in the 
remonstrance; and tiiat as Sir Jnmes, in virtue of his 
office, was obliged to speak tlie sentiments of the peo- 
ple, his Majesty might think himself bound by the 
same official obligation, to give a graceful utterance 
to the semimentB of his Minister. The coldformality 
of a weil.repeated lesson is widely distant- from the 
animated expression of the heart. 

This distinction, however, is only true with respect 
to the measure itself. The consequences of it reach 
beyond the Minister, and materially affect his Ma- 
jesty's honour. In their own nature, they are formi* 
dable enough to alarm a man of prudence, aud dis- 
graceful enough to afflict a man of spirit. A subject, 
whose sincere attachment to his Majesty's person and 
family is founded upon rational principles, will not, 
in the present conjuncture, be scrupulous of alarming, 
or even of afflicting, his Sovereign. I know there is 
another sort of loyalty, of which his Majesty has had 
plei;ty of experience. When the loyalty of Tories, 
Jacobites, and Scotchmen, has once taken poss^ession 
of an unhappy Prince, it seldom leaves him without 
accomplishing his destruction. When the poison of 
ttieir doctrines has tainted the natural benevolence 
of his disposition, when their insidious counsels have 
corrupted the stamina of his government, what anti- 
dote can restore him to his political health and ho- 
nour, but the firm sincerity of his English subjects P 

it has not been usual, in this country, at least since 
the days of Charles the First, to see the Sovereign 
personally at variance, or engaged in a direct alter- 
cation, with his subjects. Acts of grace and indul- 
gence are wisely appropriated to him, and should 
constantly be performed by himself. He never should' 
appear but in an amiable light to his subjects. Even 
in France, as long as any ideas of a limited monarchy 
were thought worth preserving, it was a maxim that 
no maiJ should leave the royal presence discontented. 



10* JUNIUS. 

They have lost or renounced the moderate prihciplca 
of their government; and now, when their parlia- 
ments venture to remonstrate, the tyrant comes for- 
ward, and answers absohitely for himself. The spirit 
of their present constitution requires that the King 
should be feared; and the principle, I believe, is 
tolerably supported by the fact. But, in our politi- 
cal system, the theory is at variance with the prac- 
tice; for the King should be beloved. Measures of 
greater severity, may, indeed, in some circumstance?, 
be necessary: but the Minister who advises, should 
take the execution and odium of them entirely upon 
himself. He not only betrays his master, but violates 
the spirit of the English constitution, when he exposes 
the chief magistrate to the personal hatred or con- 
tempt of his subjects. When we speak of the firmness 
of government, we mean an uniform system of mea- 
sures deliberately adopted, and resolutely maintain- 
ed, by the servants of the crown; not a peevish 
asperity in the language and behaviour of the Sove- 
reign. The government of a weak, irresolute mo- 
narch, may be wise, moderate, and firm: that of an 
obstinate, capricious prince, on the contrary, may be 
feeble, undetermined, and relaxed. The reputation 
of public measures depends upon the Minister, who is 
responsible; not upon the King, whose private opi- 
nions are not supposed to have any weight against 
the advice of his council, and whose personal autho- 
rity should, therefore, never be interposed in public 
affairs. This, 1 believe, is true, constitutional doc- 
trine. But for a moment let us suppose it false. Let 
it be taken for granted, that an occasion may arise, 
in which a King of England shall be compelled to 
take upon himself the ungrateful office of rejecting the 
petitions, and censuring the conduct, of his subjects; 
and let the city remonstrance be supposed to have 
created so extraordinary an occasion. On this prin- 
ciple, which I presume no friend of administration 
•will dispute, let the wisdom and spirit of the Ministry 
be examined. They advise the King to hazard his 
dignity, by a positive declaration of his own senti- 
ments; they suggest to him a language full of .severity 
and reproach.^ "What follows? When his M-jesty had 
taken so decisive a part in support of his IMinistry and 
PaTliaDQent, be had a right to expect from theia a re- 



JUNIUS. 165. 

ciprocal demonstration of firmness in their owa cause, 
and of their zeal for his honour. He had reason to 
f.vpect (nnd such, I doubt not, jvere the bhistering 
promises of Lord North) that the persons whom he 
had been advised to charge with having injured par- 
liament, and violated the principles of the constitu- 
tion, should not have been permitted to escape with- 
out some severe mai ks of the displeasure and venj^eance 
of parliament. As the matter stands, tiie Minister, 
(after placing his Sovereign in the most unfavourable 
lligiit to his subjects, and after attempting to fix the 
ridicule and odi;im of his own precipitate measure* 
upon the royal character, leaves him a solitary figure 
upon the scone, to recall, if he can, or to compensate, 
by future compliances, for one unhappy demonstration 
of ill-supported firmness and ineflfectual resentment. 
As a man of spirit, his Majesty cannot but be sensible^ 
thftt the lofty terms in which he was persuaded to re- 
primand the city, when united with the silly conclu- 
t-ion of the business, resembled the pomp of a mock 
tragedy, where the most pathetic sentiments, and 
even the siiflTerings of the hero, are calculated for de- 
usion. 

Such have been the boasted firmness and consisten- 
cy of a Minister* whose appearance in tiie House of 
Commons was thought essential to the King's service; 
whose presence was to influence every division; who 
had a voice to persuade, an eye to penetrate, a ges- 
ture to command. The reputation of these great 
qualities has been fatal to hie friends. The little 
diguity of Mr. Ellis has been committed. The mine 
was sunk; combustibles were provided ; and Welbore 
Ellis, the Guy Faux of t!ie fable, waited only for the 
jignal of command. All of a sudden the country gen- 
temen discover bow grossly they have been deceiv- 
?d : tlie Minister's heart fails hii»; the grand plot is 
iefeated in a moment; and poor Mr. Ellis and his 
notion taken into custody. From the event of Fri- 
lay la?t, one would imagine that some fatality hung 
)ver this gentleman. Wiiether he makes or suppres- 

* This graceful Minisl'r is oddly comtructed, His tongue 
s a little too big /'or his mouth, and his eyes a great deal toobi^ 
or their sockets. Every part if his person sets natural propor- 
ion at defiance. At this present niriting his head is supposed 
be much too heavy for his shoulders. 



166 JUNIUS. 

tes a motion, be. is equally sure of disgrace. But the 
complexion of the times will suffer do man to be Vnc- 
treasurer of Ireland with impunity * 

I do not mean to express the smallest anxiety fo» 
the Minister's reputation. He acts separately for 
himself, and the most shameful inconsistency may 
perhaps be no disgrace to him. But when the Sove- 
reign, who represents the majesty of the state, ap- 
pears in person, his dignity should he supporteA 
The occasion should be important; the plan well 
«onsldered ; the execution steady and consistent. 
My 7,enl for his Mr.jesty'B real honour compels me to 
asjert, tliat it ha?! been too much the sy-tem of the 
present reign, to introduce him personally either to 
act for or de»f nd his servants. They persuade him 
to do what is properly their business, and desert liim 
in tlie midst of it. Yet this i? an inconvenience to 
■which he must for ever be exposed, while he adheres 
to a Ministry divided among tliemsclves, or unequal 
in credit and ability to the great task tliey have un- 
dertaken. Instead of reserving the interposition of 
the Royal Personaare, as the la.'<t resource of govern- 
Bient, their weakness obliges them to apply it to 
every ordinary occasion, and to render it cheap and 
common in the opinion of tlie people. Instead of sup- 
porting their Master, they look to him for support; 
and, for the emoluments of remaining one da)' more 
in office, care not how ranch his sacred cliaracter is 
prostituted and dislionoured. 

If I thought it possible for tliis paper to reach the 
cvloset, I would venture to appeal at once to !iis Ma- 
jesty's judgment. I would ask him, but in tSie most 
respectful terms, '* Asyou are a young man. Sir, who 

'^ About this time the courtiers talked of nothing but a bill of 
pains and penalties against the Lord Mayor and Sherijf's, or <?«- 
'peachmentattht least. LiWe Mannikin Ellis toldthe Kini,tkcit 
if the business mere hftto his manazemmty he nould engage to 
do wonders. It was thoitght very odd that a business of so much 
importance should be intrusted to the most contemptible little 
piece of machinery in the whole kingdom. His honest seal, 
however, was disappointed. The Minister took fright; ami, 
at the very instatit that little Ellis was going to open, sent him 
an order to sit down. All their magnanimous threats ended in 
a ridiculous vote of censure^ and a still more ridiculous address 
io the i^iiig. 



JUNIUS. IW 

.Wght to have a life of happiness in prospect, as you 
ire a Imsband, as you are a father (vonr tllial duties, 
f own, have h^en rigorously performfd) i- it bonnjide 
.'or your interest or your honour, to sacrifice your do- 
imeetjc tranquillity, and to live in a perpetual disa- 
cjree.nent willi your people, merely to preserve such 
s. chain of beings as North, Barritigton, Weymouth, 
Gower, Ellis, Onslow, Rigby, Jerry Dyson, and Sand- 
'ivich p Their very names are a satire upon all govern- 
«ent ! and 1 defy the gravest of your chaplains to read 
the catalogue without laughing." 
■ For my own part. Sir, I have always considered 
•addresses from parliament as a fashiona'^le, unrae.'^n- 
ing formality. Usurpers, idiots, and tyrant?, have 
been successively complimented wit!i almost the same 
professions of duty and affection. But let us suppose 
them to mean exactly what tney profess. The con- 
sequences deserve to be considered. Either the vSove- 
reign is a man of high spirit, and dangerous ambition, 
ready to take advantage of the ireachpry of his Par- 
liament, ready to accept of the surrender they make 
him of the public liberty, or he is a mild, imdesigning 
prince, who, provided they indulge him with a little 
itate and pageantry, would of himself intend no mis- 
chief. On the first supposition, it must soon be deci- 
ded by the sword, whether the constitution should be 
loiit or preserved. On the second, a prince, nn way 
qualified for the execution of a great and hazardous 
enterprise, and witiioutany determined object in view, 
may nevertheless be driven into such desperate mea- 
sures as- may lead directly to his ruin; or disgrace 
himself by a shameful fluctuation between the ex- 
tremes of violence at one moment, and tinu'dity at 
another. The minister, perhaps, may have reason to 
be satisfied with the success of the present hour, and 
■with the profits of his employment. He i« the tenant 
•of the day, and has no interest in the inheritance. 
The Sovereign himself is bound by otlier obligations, 
and ought to look forward to a superior, a permanent 
iuteiest. Yih paternal tenderness should remind him 
4iow many hostages he has given to society. The tjes 
of nature come powerfully in aid of oaths and protes- 
tations. The father who considers his own preca- 
rious state of health, and the possible hazard of a long 
piinorit^, \vill wish to gee the family estate free an J 



168 JUNIUS. 

unincumbered.* What 13 the dignity of tlie Crovrn» 
though it were really maintained ; what is the honour 
of Parliament, supposing it coi)!d exist without any 
foundation of integrity and justice; or what is the 
vain reputation of firmness, even if the scheme of the 
government were uniform and consistent, compared 
with the heartfelt affections of the people, with the 
happiness and security of the royal family, or even 
with the grateful acclamations of the populace? 
Whatever style of contempt may be adopted by Mi- 
nisters or Parliaments, no man sincertily despises the 
voice of the English nation. The House of Commons 
are only interpreters, whose duty it is to convey the 
sense of the people faithfully to the crown. If the in- 
terpretation be hhe or imperfect, the constituent 
powers are called upon to deliver their own senti- 
ments. Their speech is rude, but intelligible; their 
gestures fierce, but full of explanation. Perplexed by 
sophistries, their honest eloquence rises into action. 
Their first appeal was to the integrity of their repre- 
sentatives; the second to the King's justice. The 
last argument of the people, whenever they have 
recourse to it, will carry more, perhaps, than per- 
suasion to Parliament, or supplication to the throne. 

JUNIUS. 



LETTER XXXIX. 

To the Printtr of the. Public Advertisei^. 

giR, Mat 28, 1770. 

While Parliament was silting, it would neither 
have been safe, or, perhaps, quite regular, to offer any 
opinion to the public upon the justice or wisdom of 
their proceedings. To pronounce fairly upon their 
conduct, it was necessary to wait until we could con- 
sider, in one view, the beginning, progress, and con- 
clusion of their deliberations. The cause of the pub- 
lic was undertaken and supported by men whose 

* Every trut friend of the house of Brunswick sees rvith afflie- 
(ion how rapidlv stone (f tht principal branches of the family 
have dropped t^. 



JUNIUS. 163 

abilities and united authority, to say nothiRg of the 
advantageous ground they stood on, might well be 
thouglit sufficient to determine a popular question, in 
favour of the people. AVither was the House of Com- 
mons so absolutely engaged in defence of the Minis- 
try, or even of their own resolutions, but that they 
might have paid some decent regard to the known 
disposition of their constituents; and, without any 
dishonour to their firmness, might have retracted an 
opinion too liastily adopted, when they saw the alarm 
it had created, and how strongly it was opposed by 
the general sense of the nation. The Ministry, too, 
would have consulted their own immediate interest 
is making some concessions satisfactory to the mo- 
derate part of the people. Without touching the fact, 
they might have consented to guard against, or give 
up, the dangerous principle on which it was establish- 
ed. In this st.ite of things, I think it was highly im* 
probable, at the beginning of the session, that the 
complaints of the people upon a matter which, in 
their apprehension at least, immediately affected the 
life of the constitution, would be treated with as mucli 
contempt by their own representatives, and by the 
House of Lords, as they had been by the other branch 
of the legislature. Despairing, of their integrity, we 
had a right to expect something from their prudence, 
and something from their fears. The Duke of Graf- 
ton certainly did not foresee to what an extent the 
corruption ol Parliament might be carried. He 
thought, perhaps, that there was still some portion 
of shame or virtue left in the majority of the House 
of Commons, or that there was a line in public pros- 
! Utiition beyond which they would scruple to proceed. 
I Had the young man been a little more practised in 
I the world, or had he ventiired to measure the cha- 
•acters of other men by his own, he would not have 
I Deen so easi'y discouraged. 
The prorogation of Parliament naturally cnlls upon 
18 to review their proceedings, and to consider the 
'.ondition in winch they have left the kingdom. I do 
lot question but they have done what is usually call- 
I ;d the King's business, much to his Majesty's satis- 
j action : we have only to lament, that in consequence 
>fa system introduced or revived in the present reign, 
' his kind of merit should be very consistejit with the 



179 JUNIUS. 

neglect of every duty they owe to the nation. The 
interval between the opening of the last, and close of 
the former session, wa? longer than usual. Whatever 
were the views of the Mini ter in deferring tite nrieet- 
ing ofParliainent, sufficienttirae was certainly given 
to every member of the House of Commons, to look 
back upon the steps he liad taken, and the conse- 
quences they had produced. The zeal of tlie party, 
the violence of personal animosities, and the heat of 
contention, had leisure to ?ubside. From that period, 
whatever resolution they took was deliberate and 
prepense; In the precedini> session, the dependants 
of the Ministry had affected to believe, that the final 
determination of the question would have satisfied the 
nation, or at least put a stop to their coinplaints ; as 
if the certainty of an evil could diminish the sense of 
it, or the nature of injustice could be altered by deci- 
eion. But they found the people of England were in 
a temper very distant from submission ; and althou^li 
is was contended that the House of Commons could 
not themselves reverse a resolution which had the 
force and effect of a judicial sentence, there were 
other constitutional expedipnts which would have giv- 
en a security against any similar attempts for the fu- 
ture. The general proposition, in which the whole 
country had an interest, miglit have been reduced to 
a particular fact, in which Mr. VV'ilkesand Mr. Lut* 
trell would alone have been concerned. The House 
of Lords might interpose ; the King might dissolve 
the Parliament; or, if every other resource failed, 
there stiUlay a graud constitutional writ of error, in 
behalf of the people, from the decision of one court to 
the wisdonf) of the whole legislature. Every one of 
these remedies has been successively attempted. The 
people performed their part with dignity, spirit, and 
perseverance. For many months his Majesty lieard 
nothing from his people, but the language of complaint 
and resentment: unhappily for this country, it was 
tl)e daily triumph of his courtiers, that he heard it 
with an indifference approaching contempt. 

The House of Commons having assumed a power 
unknown to the constitution, were determined not 
merely to supportit in the single instance in question, 
but to maintain the doctrine in its utmost extent, and 
\p efstttbJish the fact as a precedwt ia law, t« be ap- 



JUNIUS: 171 

plied in whatever way his Majesty's sorrahts should 
hereafter think fit. Their proceedings upon this oc- 
casion are a strong proof that a decision, in the first 
instance illegal and unjust, can only be supported by 
a continuation of falsehood and injustice. To support 
their former resolutions, they were ooiiged to violate 
some of the best known and est iblished rules of the 
House. In one instance, ths^y went so far as to de- 
clare, in open defiance of truth and cotnmon sense, 
tiiat it was not the rule of the House to divide a com- 
plicated question at ihe request of a Member.* But, 
after trampling upon the laws of the land, it was not 
wonderful that they should treat the private regula- 
tions of their own assembly with equal disregard. 
The speaker, being young in office, began with pre- 
tended ignorance, and ended with deciding for the 
Ministry. We are not surprised at the decision ; but 
he hesitated and blushed at his own baseness, and 
every man was astonished.! 

The interest of the public was vigorously supported 
in the House of Lords, Their rizht to defend tiie 
constitution aguinst an encroachment of the other es- 
tates, and necessity of exerting it at this period, was 
urged to them with every argument that could besun- 
, posed to influence the heart or the understanding. 
But it soon appeared that they had already taken 
their |)art, and were determined to supportthe House 
jQf Commons, notoaly at the expense of truth and de- 

* This eitravagcnt raoJtUion appears in ihe vote of Hm 
'Hovse : but, in the minutes of the committee-, the instancex 
' of resfilutians co»trarj,i to Jaw and trvth, or of refusals to ac- 
fenowledge law and truth rvhen proposed to them, are innumero' 
We. 

t JJ^'hrn the kinfr first made it a measure of his government 
'i ''■ ^Iroi/ Mr. Wilkes, andmken, for this purpose, it rvas ne- 
« to run down privileges, !Sir Fletcher Norton, ivitk 
ual prostituted effronierii, assured the House of Com- 
■:. that he should regard one of their votes no more than a 
■Hon of so many drunken porters. This is the very larv- 
horn Ben Johii'son describes in the following lines : 
" Givesforktd counsel ; takes provoking gold 
" Ou either hind, and puts it vp. 
" So 7vite, so grave, of so perplexed a tongw., 
'' And loud withal, that mould not TVctg, nor sca^ct 
'' /yie stiff rviihout a fee* 



172 JUNIUS. 

c^ncy, but even hy a surrenderor their ovfn mos 
portant rights. Instead of performing that duty t;^ 
the constitution expected from them, in retun 
the dignity and independence of their station, i 
turn for the hereditary share it has given them i 
legislature, the majority of them made common ( 
with the other House in oppressing the people, 
establislied another doctrine as false in itsdf, at 
pos'ihle, more pernicious to the constitution, 
that on which the Middlesex election wasdeterm 
By revolving, " thnt they had no riy;lit to impea 
judjiment of the House of Commons, in any 
wliats'oever, where that House has a competent* 
diction," they, in effect, gave up that constitut 
cheek and reciprocal control of one branch o 
legislature over the other, which is, perhaps 
greatest and most important object provided l\ 
the division of the whole legislative power into 
estates: and now lettlie judicial decisions of the F 
of Commons be ever so extravagant, let their d 
rations of tiie law be ever Su flagrantly false, arl 
ry, and oppressive to the subject, the House of I 
have imposed a slavish silence upon themselves ; 
cannot interpose; they cannot protect the.siib 
they eannot defend the laws of their country 
couces.-'ion so extraordinary in itself, socontradit 
to the principles of their own institution, canno 
alarm the most unsuspecting mind. We may 
conclude that the Lords would hardly have yi( 
SO much to the other House without the certain 
a compensation, whicli can only be made to the 
the expense of the people.* The arbitrary p 
they have assumed, of imposing fines, and commi 
during pleasure, will now be exercised in its ful 
tent. The House of Commons are too much in 
debt to question or interrupt their proceedings. 
Ciown too, we maybe well assured, will lose not 
in this new distribution of power. After decia 
that to petition for a dissolution of parliament i 
reconcilable with the principles of the constitu 

* The man rvho resists and overcomes iliis iniquitous , 
assumed by the Lords, must be supported by the whole p< 
We have the laws on our side, and want nothing but an 
pid leader. When such a man stands forth, let the rMiO' 
to it. It is 7iot Ms ce^ust) but our t»»cfl. 



JUNIUS. K3 

s IVIajcsty hns reason to expect that some extraor- 
nary' compliment will be returned to the Royal pre- 
gati ve. The three branches of the legislature seeoi 
treat their separate rights and interests as the Ro- 
an triumvirs did their friends ; they reciprocally 
orifice them to the animosities of each other: and 
tablish a detestat)le union among themselves, upon 
e rtiiu of the laws and liberty of the commonwealth. 
Iiroiii^ii llie whole proceedings of the House of Com- 
ons, in this session, there is an apparent, a palpable 
msciousness of guilt, whicii has prevented their 
iring to assert their own dignity, where it has beert 
iimedlatcly and grossly attaclved._ In the course of 
"^r. Musgrave's examination, he said every thing that 
vm be conceived mortifying to individuals, or offen- 
(•e to the llouce. They voted his information fri- 
)lous : but they were awed by his firmness and 

■ tegrlty, and sunk under it.* The terms in which 
,e sale of a patent to Mr. Hine were communicated 

. the public, naturally called for a parliamentary in- 
; liry. The integrity of the House of Commons was 
i;rectly impeached: but they had not courage to 
t ove in their own vindication, because the inquiry 

■ ould have been fatal to Colonel Burgoyne and the 
; Hike of Grafton. When Sir George Savillc branded 

lem with tbe name of traitors to their constituents, 
hv°n the Lord Mayor, the SlteriffV, and Mr. Treco- 
lick, expressly avowed and maintained every part 
''the City Remonstrance, why did they tamely sub- 
it to be insulted;^ Why did they not immediately 
<peJ those refractory Members p Conscious of the 
lotives on which they had acted, they prudently 
referred infamy to dinger; and were better pre- 
ired to meet the contemr)t, than to rouse the indig- 
ation, of the whole people. Had tliey expelled those 
fe members, the consequences of liie new doctrineol* 
icapacjtation would have come immediately liome 

• every man. The truth of it would then have been 

• irly tried, without any reference to Mr. Wilkes's 
;.rivate character, or the dignity of the House, or the 

* The tramivatinn of this _ firm, honed man, is printed for 
'.Jmon. T/i« read^.r vi II find it a most curiam and most ivr 

rating tract. Doctor Musgrave, 7vi{k no other support but 
'uth and his own ftrraacss, resisted and cvercame the jvhoJr 
fouie of Commons. 

H 



174 aUNIUS. 

obstinacy of one particular county. These topics, ! 
know, have had their weight with men, who, affect- 
ing a cliaracter of moderation, in reality consult 
nothing but their own immediate ease : who are weak 
♦ nough to acquiesce under a flagrant violation of the 
laws when it does not directly touch themselves; and 
eare not what injustice is practised upon a inanjwhose 
moral character they piously think themselves obliged 
to condemn. In any otlier rircumstances, the House 
of Commons must have forfeited all credit and dignity, 
ii\ after such gross provocation, they had permittea 
those five gentlemen to nit any longer among them. 
We should then have seen and felt the opei'ation of.a 
prf>cedent, which is represented to be perfectly barren 
and harmless. But there is a set of men in tliis coun- 
try, whose understandings measure the violation of 
law by the magniuide of the instance, not by the im- 
portant ccnsequentes wlijch fiow directly from t!)e 
principle; and the Minister, I presume, did not think 
it safe to quicken their apprehensions too soon. Had 
Mr. Hampden reasoned and acted like the moderate 
iiien of these days, instead of hnzarding liis vvhole for- 
tune in a law-suit with the Crown, he would have 
<juit;tly paid the twenty shillings demanded of iiim; 
the Stuart family would probably have continued 
upon the throne; and, at this moment, the impo^itio^ 
of ship-money would have been an acknovyledged pre- 
rogative of the Crown. 

VVhatthen has beeu the business of the session, atjter 
voting the supplies, and confirming the determination 
of the Middlesex election p The extraordinary proro- 
gation of the Irish Parliament, and the just discon- 
tents of that kingdom, have been passed by witlioiit 
laotice. Neither the general situation of our colonies, 
nor that particular distress which forced the inha- 
bitants of Boston to take up r.rms in their defence, 
tiave been thought worthy of a momcnfs considera- 
tion. In the repeal of those acts which were most of- 
fensive to America, the Parliament have df>ne every 
tiling but removed the ofil nee j they have relinquished 
the revenue, but judiciously taken care to preserve 
the contention, ft is not pretended that the continua- 
tion of the tea duty, is to produce any direct benefit 
■whatsoever to the mother country. What is it then, 
huX an odi<^ns uutrofitable ctcrticn of a ?pQC'.;lati>"P 



JUNIUS. 175 

right, and fixing a badge of slavery upon tlue Ame i- 
cans, without service to theJr masters p But it has 
pleased God to give us a Ministry, anda Parliament, 
who are neither to be persuaded by argument, or in- 
structed by experience. 

Lord Nortli, I presump, will not claim an extraordi- 
nary merit from any thin? he has done this year, in 
the improvement, or application of the revenue. A 
great operation, directed to an important object, 
though it should fail of siicceps, marks the genius and 
elevates the character of a Minister. \ poor con- 
tracted understanding d^als in little schemes, which 
dishonour him if they fail, and do him no credit when 
they succeed. Lord North had fortunately the 
means in his possession of reducing all the four per 
cents at once. The failure of his first enterprise in 
6nance, is not half so disgraceful to his reputation as 
a Minister, as the enterprise itself is injurious to the 
public. Instead of striking one decisive blow, which 
would have cleared the market at once upon terms 
proportioned to the price of the four per cents six 
weeks ago, he has tampered with a pitif il portion of 
a commodity which ought never to have been touch- 
ed but in gross. He has given notice to the holders 
of that stock, of a design formed by government to. 
, prevail upou them to surrender it by degrees, conse- 
quently has warned them to hold uj)and enhance the 
price : 60 that the plan of reducing the four per caUs 
, must either be dropped entirely, orcontinued with an, 
; increasing disadvantage to thf public. The Minis- 
ter's sagacity has served to raise the vahie of the 
thing he m< aus to purchase, and to sink that of the 
■ three per ce7its which it is his purpose to sell. In ef- 
fect, he has contrived to make it tl»e interest of the 
proprietor of the four per cents to sell out, and buy 
three per cents in the ma- ket, rather than Subscribe 
his stock upon any terms that can possibly be oflFered 
yby government. 

] The state of the nation leads us naturally to consl- 
, der the situation of the King. The prorogation of 
'Parliiimeut has the effect of a temporary dissolution. 
^The odium of measiurs adopted by the collertive 
vLody sits lightly upon the separate members who com- 
jposed it. They retire into summer quarters, and rest, 
'u-om tlie dbgraccful labours of the campaign. Buts^. 



176 JUNIUS. 

for the Sovereign, it is not so Tvitk kvn} Ih has a per- 
manent existence in this country; he cannot with- 
draw himself from the complaints, thedisicontents, the 
reproaches of his subjects. They pursue him to his re- 
tirement, and invade his domestic happiness, when no 
address can be obtained from an obsequious Parlia- 
ment to encourage or console him. In other times, 
the interest of the King and people of England, was, 
as it ought to be, entirely the same. A new system 
has not only been adopted in fact, but professed y pom 
principle. Ministers are no longer the public ser- 
vants of the state, but the private domestics of the 
Sovereign. One* particular class of men are permit- 
ted to call themselves the King's friends, as if the 
body of the people were the King's enemies; or, as if 
his Majesty looked for a resource or consolation in 
the attachment of a few favourites, against the gene- 
ral contempt or detestation of his subjects. Edward 
and Richard the second made the same distinction be- 
tween the collective body of the people, and a con- 
temptible party who surrounded the throne. The 
event of their mistaken conduct might have been a 
warning to their successors. Yet the error? of those 
princes were not without excuse. They i}ad as many 
ff'lse friends as our present gracious Sovereign, and 
infinitely greater temptation? to seduce them. They 
were neither sober, religious, nor demure. Intoxi- 
cated with pleasure, they wasted their inheritance in 
pursuit of it. Their lives were like a rapid torrent, 
brilliant in prospect, though useless or dangerous in 
its course. In the dull, unanimated existence of other 
princes, we see nothing but a sickly stagnant water, 
which taints the atmosphere, without fertilizing the 
soil. The morality of a king is not to be measured 
by vulgar rules. His situation is singular. There 
are faults which do him honour, and virtues that dis- 
grace him. A faultless, insipid equality, in his cha- 
racter, is neither capable of virtue or vice in the ex- 
treme; but it secures his submission to those persons 
whom he has been accustomed to respect, and makes 

* ^^ An ignorant, mcrcennry, and servile crew; vnanimous 
in evU, dUis:ent in mischiefs variabh in principles, constant t0 
Jlattery, taike.rs for liberty, but slaves to power ; stilling f/wm- 
selves'the court party, and the Prince's o/t^jz/ncn^s."-— Dav€- : 
oaat. * 



auNius. i7r 

hira a dangerous instrument of their ambition. Se- 
cluded from the world, attached from his infancy to 
one set of persons and one set of ideas, he can neither 
open his heart to new connexions, nor_ his mind to 
better information. A character of this sort is the 
soil fittest to produce that obstinate bigotry in poli- 
tics and religion, which begins with a meritorious sa- 
criGce of the understanding, and finally conducts the 
monarch and the martyr to tlie block. At any other 
period, I doubt not, the scandalous disorders which 
have been introduced into the government of all the 
dependencies in the empire, would have roused the 
attention of the public. The odious abuse and pros- 
titution of the prerogative at home; the unconstitu- 
tional employment of the military; the arbitrary- 
fines and commhments by the House of Lords and 
Court of King's Bench; the mercy of a chaste and 
pious prince, extended cheerfully to a wilful mur- 
derer, because that murderer is the brother of a 
common prostitute;* would, I think, at any other 
time, have excited universal indignation. Biit the 
daring attack upon the constitution, in the Middlesex 
election, makes us callous and indifferent to inferior 
grievances. No man regards an eruption upon the 
surface, when the noble parts are invaded, and he 
feels a mortification approaching to his heart. The 
free election of our representatives in Parliament 
comprehends, because it is, the source and security of 
every right and privilege of the English nation. The 
Ministry have realized the compendious ideas of Ca- 
ligula. They know that the liberty, the laws, and 
property of an Englishman, have, in truth, but one 
neck, and that, to violate the freedom of election, 
etrikea deeply at them all. 

JUNIUS. 



17^ JUNIUS. 

LETTER XL. 

To Lord North. 

MT LORD, ACGTTST 22, 1770. 

Mr. LiittrelPs Kervlces were the chief support and 
©rnament of the Duke of Grafton's administration. 
The lionour of rewarding them was reserved for your 
Lordship. Tlie Duke, it seems, had contracted an 
obligation he was ashamed to acknowledge, and un- 
able to acquit. Von, my Lord, had no scruples. You 
accepted the succession with all its incumbrances, and 
have paid Mr. Luttrell his legacy, at the hazard of 
mining the estate. 

When this accomplished youth declared himself the 
cliatni)ion of government, the world was busy inquir- 
ing what honours or emohiments could be a sufficient 
recompense to a young man of his rank and fortune, 
for submitting to mark his entrance into life with the 
universal contempt and detestation of his country. 
His noble father had not been so precipitate. To va- 
cate his seat in Parliament; to intrude upon a coun- 
ty in which he had no interest or connexion ; to pos- 
sess himself of another man's right, and to maintaia 
it in defiance of public shame, as well as justice, be- 
spoke a degree of zeal, or of depravity, which ail the 
favonrof a pious prince could hardly requite. I oro- 
test, my Lord, there is in this young man's conduct a 
strain of prostitution, which, for its singularity, J can- 
not but admire. He has discovered a new line in the 
human character; he has degraded even the name of 
Luttrell, and gratified his father's most sanguine ex- 
pectations. .., J. . 

The Duke of Grafton, with every possible disposi- 
tion to patronize this kind of merit, was contented 
with pronouncing Colonel Luttreli's nanegyric. The 
gallant spirit, the disinterested zeal of the young ad- 
venturer, were echoed through the House of Lords. 
His Grace repeatedly pledged himself to the House, 
as an evidence of the purity ot his fri.nd Mr. Lnt- . 
trell's intentions, that he hnd engaged without any 
prospect of personal benefit, and that the idea of com- 



JUNIUS. IT3 

ppn?ation would mortally ofTend him.* The noble 
Duke could hardly be in earnest; but !ip had lately 
quitted hi^ employment, and began to think it neces- 
saiy to take some care of his reputation. At that 
very moment the Irisli negotiation was probably be- 
^m. Come forward, tliou worthy representative of 
Lord Bute, and tell tiiis insulted countrj', who ad- 
vised tiie Kin^ to appoint Mr. Luttreil adjutant gene- 
ral to the army in frelarul. By what mana^emeiJr 
was Colonel Cunninghame prevailed on to resign his 
employment, and the obsequious Gi^boi'ne to accept 
of a pension for the government of Kinsalepf Was it 
an ori2;inal stipulation with the Princess of Wales; or 
does he owe his preferment to your Lordship's partial- 
ity, or to the Duke of Bedford's friendship p My Lord, 
though it m ly not be possible to trace this measure to 
its source, we can follow the stream, and warn th* 
country of its approaching deatructioil. The EnglisU 
nation must be roured, and put upon its guard. Mr. 
Luttreil iias already shown^ us how far he may be 
trusted, whenever an open attack is to be made upon 
the liberties of this country, I do not doubt that 
there is a deliberate plan formed. Yonr Lordship 
best knows by whom. The corruption of the legisla- 
tive body on this side, a military force on the other, 
ajnd iheu, farewell to England ! It is impossible that - 
any Minister should dare to advise the King to place 
such a man as Luttreil in the confidential post of ad- 
jutant-general, if there were not some secret purpose 
ia view, which only such a man as Luttreil is fit to 
promote. The insult o0ered to the army, in general, is 

* £11' now nays that his great object is the rank of colonel, and 
that ;^f will kavc it. 

•f Thi<t infambiis transaction ought to be explained to the pvb- 
!ir. Colonel Ghborne ims qvarier-master-general in Ireland. 
Lord Townshend pfrmndcd him to resign to a Scotch officer, 
one Frazer, and gives him the government nf Kinsale. Colonel 
Vunnin^Iiame was adjutant ;^cneral in Ireland. Lord Toivns- 
hend offtTS him a pension, to induce him to resi'^n to Luttreil. 
Cunninghame treats the offer with contempt. WhaVs to be done ? 
PoorGisborne must move onceHmore. He accepts of a pension of 
500?. a-ycar, vntil a government of greater value shall become 
vacant. Colo-inl Cvnntn'^bximc is made governor of Kinsale : 
and Littlrefl, at last, for rvhovi the whole machinery is put in 
motion, becomes adjvtanl-gencral, and, in eff'ed, takes the com* 
mand nfthe army in Iretaitd". 



180 JifWIUS, 

as gross as the outrage intended to the people of Eng- 
land. Wliat! Lieutenant Colonel Luttreil adjutant- 
general of an army of sixteen thousand men ! One 
tFould think his Majesty's campaigns at BlackheatU 
and Wimbledon might have taught him better. I can- 
not help wishing General Harvey joy of a colleaffi.e 
who does so much honour to the employment. But, 
my Lord, this measure is too daring to pass unnoticed, 
too dangerous to be received with indifference or sub- 
mission. You sliall not have time to new model the 
Irish army. They will not submit to be garbled by 
Colonel Luttreil. As a mischief to the English con- 
stitution, (for he is not worth the name of enemy) they 
already detest him. ^ A? a boy impudently thrust over 
their heads, they will receive him with indignation 
and contempt. As for you, my Lord, who perhaps 
are no more than the blind, unhappy instrument of 
Lord Bute and her Royal Highness the Princess of 
Wales, be a?sured, that you shall be called upon to 
answer for the adv':e which has been given, and 
either discover your accomplices, or fall a sacrifice to 
their security. JUNIUS. 



LETTER XLL 
To fftc Right Honourabk Lord Mansfield. 

MY LORD, ISi'OVEMBEa 14, 1770. 

1^ The appearance of this letter will attract the curio- 
:sity of the public, and command even your Lordship's 
attention. I am considerably in your debt, and shall 
endeavour, once for all, to balance the account. Ac- 
cept of this address, my Lord, as a prologue to more 
important scenes, in which you will probably be called 
upon to act or suffer. 

You will not question my veracity, when I assure 
you, that it has not been owing to any particular re- 
spect for your person that I have abstained from you 
so long. Beside the distress and danger with which 
the press is threatened, when your Lordship is party, 
and the party is to be judge, I confess I have been de- 
terred by th'2 ditticuUy of the ta?k. Our language hsrs 



JUNIUS. lai 

no tcrril of reproach, tfie mind has no idea of detesta- 
tion, which has not already been happily applied to 
you, and exhausted Ample justice has been done, by 
abler pens than mine, to tlie separate merits of your 
life and character. Let it be my humble office to col- 
lect ihe scattered sweets till their united virtue tor- 
tures the sense 

Permit ine to beo;ln with paying a just tribute to 
Scotch sincerity, \Therever I find it. I own, I am not 
apt to confi'ie in the professions of gentlemen of that 
country; and, when they smile, I feel an invohmtarv 
emotion to guard myself against mi:?chief. With thi?^ 
general opinion of an ancient nation, I always thought 
M much to your Lordship's honour that, in your ear- 
lier days, you were but little infected with the pru- 
dence of your country. You had some original at- 
tachments, which you took every proper opportunity 
to ackdowledge. The liberal spirit of your youth pre 
vailed over your native discretion. Your zeal in the 
cause of an unhappy Prince was expressed witii the 
sincerity of wine, and some of the solemnities of reli 
gion.* This, 1 conceive, is the most amiable point of 
view in whicli your character has appeared. Like an 
hone <t man, you took that part in politics, which might 
have been expected from your birth, education, coun- 
try and connexions. There was something generous 
in your attachment to the bani!>hed lioi'se of Stuart. 
We I-iment the mistakes of a good man, and do not 
be^''in to detest him until he affects to renounce liis 
princii'les. Why did you not adhere to that loyalty 
you once professed ? Why did you not follow the ex- 
; ample of your worthy brother pf With him yon might 
1 have shared in the lionour of the Pretender's confi- 
' dfnce; with him you niisht have preserved the inte- 
: erity of your character, and England, I think, might 
\ XvAve spared you witliout regret. Y^our friends will 
say, perhnps, that, although you deserted the fortune 
ofyour liege Lord, you have adhered firmly to the 
; priaciples which drove his father from the throne ; 

* This man mas always a rank Jacobite. Lord Ravmsworth 
jnoduced fhr rrost satisfadori/ evidence <)fhis having frequently 
drank the Prelender^s health on Ms knees. 

f Coiifid'iUial Secretary to the Inte Pretevder. This Cif^fUW- 
■ Stan ce cvn/tnned the/riendship betrveai the brothirs, 
u2 



m JUNIUS. 

that, withoot openly supporting the person, yon have 
done essential service to the cause ; and consolf d your- 
self for the los? of a favourite family, by reviving and 
establishing the maxims of tl:ifiir government. This 
is the way in which a Scotchman's understanding 
corrects the errors of his heart. My Lord, I acknow- 
ledge the trutli of the defence, and can trace it throufih 
all your conduct. I see through your whole life one 
uniform plan toenlargethepowerof the crown, at the 
expense of the liberty of the subject. To this object 
your thoughts, words and actions have beert constant- 
ly directfid. In contempt or ignorance of the common 
law of England, you have made it your study to in- 
troduce into the court where you preside, maxims of 
jurisprudence unknown to Englishmen.^ Tlie Roman 
code, the law of nations, and the opinion of foreign 
civillians, are your perpetual theme; but, who ever 
heard you mention Magna Charta, or the Bill of 
Rights, with approbation or respect.'' By such treacli- 
erous arts the noble simplicity and free spirit of our 
Saxon laws were first corrupted. The Norman con- 
quest w:is not complete, until Norman lawyers had 
introduced their laws, and reduced slavery to a sys- 
tem. This one leading principle directs your inter- 
pretation of the laws, and accounts for your treat- 
ment of juries. It is not in political questions only 
(for there the courtier might be forgiven) but let the 
cause be what it may, your understanding is equally 
on the rack, either to contract tlie power of the jury, 
or to mislead their judgment. For the truth of this 
assertion, I appeal to the doctrine you delivered in 
Lord Grosvenor's cause. An action for criminal con- 
versation being brought by a Peer against a Prince 
of the Blood, you were daring enough to tell the jury, 
that, in fixing the damages, they were to pay no re- 
gard to the quality or fortune of the parties ; that it 
was a trial between A and B; that they were to con- 
sider the offence in a moral light only, and give no 
greater damages to a peer of the realm, than to the 
meanest mechanic. I shall not attempt to refute a 
doctrine, wliich, if it was meant for law, carries false- 
hood and absurdity upon the face of it; hut, if is was 
meant for a declaration of your political creed, it is 
clear and consistent. Under an arbitrary government, 
all rank|3 and distinctions are confounded. The hor 



JUNIUS. m 

notir of a nobleman is no more considered thnti the re- 
putation of a peasant J for, with diflfeieut liveries, they 
are equally i^iaves. 

Even in matters of private property, we see the 
same bias and inclination to depart from the decision? 
oC yonr predecessors, which yon certainly ought to 
receive "IS evidence of the (iiommon law, Fnstead oi 
those certain positive rules, by which the jtidgment of 
a court of law should invariably be determined, yon 
have fondly intro iuced your own unsettled notions of 
riqcity arid substantial justice. Decisions given upon 
such principles do not alarm tlie public so much ax 
they ought, because the consequence and tendency oi 
each particular instance is not observed or regarded. 
In the mean time, the practice gains ground ; the 
Court of King's Bench becomes a couft of equity; 
and the Judge, instead of consulting strictly the law 
of the land, refers only to the wisdom of the court, 
and to the purity of his own conscience. The name of 
Mr. Justice Yates will naturally revive in your mind 
eom'e of those emotions of fear and detestation with 
which you always bi^held him. That great lawyei., 
that honest man, saw your whole conduct in thelig;ht 
that I do. After years of ineffectual resistance to thi=* 
pernicious principles intioduced by your Lordship, 
and uniiormly supported by y ov\v kximbh friends npori 
the bench, he determined to quit a court, whose pro 
ceedings and decisions he could neither assent to witii 
honour, nor oppose with success. 

Tiie injustice done to an individual* is sometime'? 
of service to the public. Facts are apt to alarm u? 
more tlian the most dangerous principles. The suf 
feriuiis and firmness of a printer have roused the pub- 
lic attention. You knew and felt tliat your conduct 
would not bear a parliamentary inquiry; and you 
hoped to escape it by the meanest, the basest sacrifice 
of dignity and consiHtency that ever was made by a 
great magistrate.^ Where was your firmness, where 
was that vindictive spirit of which we have seen so 
nSany exaraples,whcn a man so inconsiderable asBing- 

*Tfre oppression of an obtcnrc individual gave birth, to tfi>> 
'Itmous Habeas Corpus Ad if 31 Car. JI. nhidi is frequenttl/ 
^iflmidsred as anothrr Ma^na iViada (fthis kingdom. ' 

Blackston0..jii. \35,. 



184 JUNIUS. 

ley could force you to confess, in the face of this 
country, that, for two years tcgetlier, yon liad ille- 
gally deprived an English suhject of his libei-ty, and 
that he had triumphed over you at last p Vet I own,^ 
my Lord, that yours is not an uncommon character.' 
Women, and men like women, are timid, vindictive, 
and irresolute. Their passions counteract each other ; 
and make the same creature at one mon)rnt liateful, 
Ht another contemptible. I fancy, my Lord, some 
lime will elapse before you venture to commit another 
Englishman for refusing to answer interrogatories.* 
The doctfine you have constantly delivered, in 
cases of libel, is another powerful evidence of a fet- 
tled plan to contract the legal power of juries, and to 
draw questions, inseparable from fact, within the ar- 
bitrium of the court. Here, my Lord, you have for- 
tune on your side. When you invade the province of 
the jury, in matter of libel, you, in effect, attack the 
liberty of tlie press, and, with a single stroke, wound 
two of your greatest enemies. . In some instances you 
have succeeded, because juryman are too often igno- 
rant of their own rights, and too apt to be awed by 
the authority of a chief justice. ^ In other criminal 
prosecutions, the malice of the design is confessedly as 
much tlie suljcct of consideration to a jury as the cer- 
tainty of the fact. If a different doctrine prevails in 
the case of libels, why should it not extend to all cri- 
minal casesp Why not to capital offences? I see no 
reason (and I dare say you will agree with me, that 
there is no good one) why the life of the subjectshould 
be better protected against you than his liberty or 
propeity. ^Vh,v siiould you enjoy the full power of 
pillory, fine, and imprisonment, and not be indulged 
with hanging or transportation? With your Lord- 
ship's fertile genius and merciful disposition, I can con- 
ceive such an exerci.-e of the power you have, as 
could hardly be aggravated by that which you have , 
not. 

* Bii'clcy n'n.i commlllrdfor conirmpt, in ml svbmitting lo be 
eTOininid. IJt lav in prison two years, until iht Crown thought 
the matin vns.hl "occasion some serious complaiyit, and there'- 
fore he itns Irt out, hi the same contumelious state he had heti' 
put in.nnth all his sins about him, ■unnnmntcd and uvanrahfi 
There was much coquetry brtwrcn the Court and the Atton: 
General, aboict who should, n7tder.^o the ridi.ciile of kttiv^, ' 
esfCLipr Vide atether Let'or to Alraofl, p. 16^. 



JUNIUS, m 

Btit, my Lord, since 70U have laboured (and not 
unsuccessfully) to destroy the substance of the tnal^ 
why should you suffer the form of the verdict to re- 
main p Why force twelve honest men, in palpable vio- 
lation of their oaths, to pronounce their fellow-subject 
a g^dlty man. when, almost at the same moment, you 
forbid their inquiring into the only circumstance 
which, in the eye of law and reason, constitutes guilt ; 
the malignity or innocence of his intentions? But I 
nnderstand your Lordship. If you could succeed in 
making tlie trial by jury useless and ridiculou.^ you 
might then, with greater safety, introduce a bill into 
parliament for enlarging the jurisdiction of the courts 
and extending your favourite trial by interrogatories 
to every question ia which the life or liberty of an 
Englishman is concerned.* 

Your charge to the jury, in the prosecution against 
Almon and Woodfall, contradicts the highest legal 
authorities, as well as the plainest dictates of reason. 
In Miller's cause, and still more expressly in that of 
Baldwin, yon have proceeded a step farther, and 
grossly contradicted yourself. You may know, per- 
haps, though I do not mean lo insult you by an ap- 
peal to your experience, that the language of truth is 
uniform and consistent. To depart from it safely, re- 
quires memory and discretion. In the two last trials, 
your charge to the jury began, as usual, Avith assuring 
them, that they had nothing to do with the law ; that 
iliey were to find the bare fact, and not concern them- 
selves about the legal in'erences drawn from it, or the 
degree of the defendant's guilt. Thus far you were 
consistent with your former practice. But how will 
you account for the conclusion p You told the jury, 
that " if, after all, they would take upon themselves 

* The phiIosoph:cil poel doth, notably describe the damnaple 
and damned proceedings of the judge of hell : 

" Gnossijis hitc Rhndamnnthus habct durissima regno, 
*' Castigatque,audit<iue doles, suh'igit quo fateri." 
First he punisheth, and then he heareth. and lastly cnmpclhi\ 
'0 confess, and malces and mars laws at his pleasure : like as the 
Centuionyin the huly history did to St. Paul; for the tert 
mith, " Centurio npprehendi PauJumjussit, et se catenis eliga- 
ri, et tunc jpU'TrooaihdLUquisJ'uissct, et quid fecisset.'^ But 
ioodjuds'^s a''rf jutiket ubhar these wirsct. Coke, 2 lust. 53. 



183 JUNIUS. 

to determine the law they might do ii^ but they must be 
very sure that they deterniiiiedaccoi ding to law ; for it 
touched their consciences, and tbcj acted at their pe- 
ril." If I understand your first proposition, you mean 
to affirm, that the jury were not corntjetent judg;es of] 
the law if) the criminal case of a libel; that it did not 
fall within <Aeir jurisdiction; and that with respect 
lo ihem, the malice or innocence of the defendant's ' 
intentions would be a question coram non judire. But \ 
the second proposition clears away your own difficul- i 
ties, and restores the jury to all their judicial capaci- 
ties.^ Vow make the competence of the court to de- 
pend upon the legality of the decision. In the first 
instance, you deny the power absolutely: in the se- 
cond, you ad.mitthe power, provided it be legally ex- 
ercised. Now, my Lord, wiihout pretending to re- 
concile the distinctions of WestTiinster hall with the 
simple information of con)mon sense, or the integrity 
of fair argument, I shall be understood by ynnr Lord- 
ship, when I assert, thatif a jiuy, or any other court 
of judicature (for juries are judges) Imve no right to 
enter into a cause or question of law, it signifies no- 
thing whether their decision be or be not according 
to law. 'J'heir decision is, in itself, a mere nullity . 
the parties are not bound to submit to it; and, if the 
iury run any risk of puinshment. it is not for pro- 
nouncing a corrupt or illegal verdict, but for the ille- 
gality ot meddling with appoint on which they have 
110 legal authority to decide. f 

I cannot quit this subject without reminding your 
Lordship of the name of iVlr. Benson. Without of- 
fering any legal objection, you ordered a special jti- 
rymalti to" be set aside, in a cause where the King was 

^Directly the reverse (if the doctrine he consiantlymaintaincd 
ill the House of Lords, and elsevjhere, upon tfit decision qf'ihc 
Middlesex elcdiwi He invariabhj asserted, that the decision 
must be legal, because the court ivas competent ; and never 
could be prevailed on to enter farther into the question. 

] These iniquitous prosecutions cost the best of Princes, six 
thousand pounds, and ciuled in the total defeat and disgrace of 
the prosecutors. In the course of one of them. Judge Astcn had^ 
the unparalleled impudence to tcU Mr. Morris., a gentleman of 
■unquestionable honour and inttgnty, and w'lo mas then giving^ 
his evidence oh oath, that he F.ho\M pay very little regard tO 
any affidavit be should make. '^ 



JUNIUS. 187 

jiroseciilor. Tlie novelty of tlie fact required expla- 
nation. Willj'ou condescend to tell the world by what 
law or custom you were authorized to make a peremp- 
tory challenge of a juryman? Tlie parties, indeed, 
have this power; and perhaps,your Lordship, having 
accustomed yourself to unite the characters of judjre 
and party, may claim it in virtue of the new capacity 
you have assumed, and profit by your own wrong. Tlie 
time witiiin which you might have been punished for 
this daring attenn tto pack a jury, is, I fear, elapsed j 
but no length of lime sliall erase tlie record of it. 

The mischiefs you h-ive done this country are not 
confined to your interpretation of the laws. Vou are 
a minister, ray Lord ; and, as such, have long been con- 
sulted. Let us candidly examine what use you have 
made of your ministerial influence. I will not descend 
to little matters,but come at once to those important 
points on which your resolution was waited for, on 
which the expectation of your opinion kept a great 
part of the nation in suspense. A constitutional ques- 
tion arises upon a declaration of the law of parlia- 
ment, by which the freedom of election, and the birth- 
right of the subject, were supposed to have been in- 
vaded. The King's servants are accused of violating 
the constitution. The nation is in a ferment, Theablest 
men of all parties engage in the question and exert 
their utmost abilities in the discussion of it. What 
part has the honest Lord Mansfield acted.'' As an 
eminent judge of the law, his opinion would have 
been respected. As a pear, lie had a right to demand 
an audience of his Sovereign, and inform him that his 
Ministers were pursuing unconstitutional measures. 
Upon other occasions, my Lord, you have no difficul- 
ty in finding your way into the closet. The pretend- 
ed neutrality of belonging to no party will not save 
vour reputation. In a question merely political, an 
honest man may stand neuter. But the laws and 
constitution are the general property of the subject; 
net to defend, is t© relinquish; and who is there so 
senseless as to renounce his share in a common bene- 
liit, unless he hopes to profit by a new division of the 
spoil I' As a Lord of Parliament, you were repeated- 
ly called upon to condemn or defend the new law de- 
'rlared by the House of Commons. You affected to 
have scruples, and every expedient was attempted t« 



188 JUNIUS. 

remove them. The qne«tion waf? proposed and urged 
to you in a thousand different shapf s. Your prudence 
still supplied you witli evasion; yeur resolution was 
invincible. For my own part, I am not anxious to pene- 
trate tliis solemn secret. I care not to wliose wisdom 
it is entrusted, nor how soon you carry it with you 
to your grave.* You have betrayed your opinion by 
the very care you have taken to conceal it. It is not 
from Lord Mansfield that we expect any reserve in 
declaring his real sentiments in favour of government, 
or in opposition to the people ; uor is it difficult to ac- 
count for the motions of a timid, dishonest heart,which 
neitlier has virtue enough to acknowledge truth, or 
courage to contradict it. Yet you continue to support 
an administration which yo\i know is universally 
odious, and whicli, on some occasions, you yourself 
epeak of with contempt. Yon would fain He thoujiht 
to take no share in government, while, in reality,you 
are the main spring of the machine. Here, too, wiB 
trace the little, prudential policy of a {Scotchman. — 
Instead of acting that open, generous part which be- 
comes your rank and station, you meanly skulk into 
the closet, and give your Sovereign such advice as 
you have not spirit to avow or defend. You secretly 
engross the power, while you decline tjje title of a 
miuister; and though you dare not be Chancellor, 
you know how to secure the emoluments of the office. 
Are the seals to be for ever in commission, that you 
may enjoy five thousand poimdsa year P I beg pardon, 
my Lord ; your fears have interposed at last, and 
forced you to resign. The odium of continuing Speak- 
er of the House ot Lords, upon such term«, was too 
formidable to be resisted. What a mtillit^ide of bad 
passions are forced to submit to a constitutional in- 
firmity ! But though you have reUnquistipd tiie sala- 
ry, you still aissume tlie rights of a (VI jhister. Your 
conduct, it seems, must be defended in Parliament.-— 
Fo' what other purpose is your wretched friend, that 
miserable sergeant, posted to the House of Commons? 
Is it in the abilities of a Mr. Leigh to defend the 

* He said, in the House ofLord.^, That he believed he should 
Carry his opinion with him to the grave. II nas nfternards 
veported, that he had entrusted it, in special conjldcncc, to th'-^ 
ingenious i?i(ke of Cumberland, 



JUNIUS. 189 

great Lord Mansfield p Or is lie only the Punch of 
the Puppet-show, to speak as he is prompted by the 
chief juggler beliind the curtain p* 

In public affairs, my Lord, cunning, let it be ever so 
well wrought, will not conduct a man honourably 
through lile: Like bad money, it may be cuirent for 
a time, but it will soon be cried down. It cannot 
consist with a liberal spirit, though it be sometimes 
united with extraordin;^ry qualiBcations. When I 
ackuowledge your abilities, you may believe I am 
sincere. 1 feel for human nature when I see a man, 
so gifted as you are, descend to such vile practices. 
Yet do not suffer your vanity to console you too soon. 
Believe me, my good Lord, you are not admired in 
the same degree in whiih you are detested. It is only 
the partiality ofyour friends that balances the defects 
of your heart with the superiority of your understand- 
ing. No learned man, even among your own tribe, 
thinks you qualified to preside in a court of common 
law. Vet it is confei^sed, that under Justinian,^ you 
might have made an incomparable prator. It is re- 
markable enough, but I hope not ominous, that the 
la^s you understand best, and the judges you affect 
to admire mo«t, flourished in the decline of a great 
enifiire, and are supposed to have contributed to its 
fall. 

Here, my Lord, it may be proper for us to pause 
together. It is not for my own sake that I wish you 
to consider the delicacy of your situation. Beware 
[ how you indulge the first emotions of your resent- 
ment. This paper is delivered to the world, and 
cannot be recalled. The prosecution of an innocent 
[ printer cannot alter facts, nor refute arguments. Do 
J not furnish me with farther materials against yourself, 
,'An honest man, like the true religion, appeals to the 
^understanding, or modestly confides in the internal 
.evidence of his conscience. Tiie impostor employs 
Ij.force instead of argument, imposes silence where he 
/ cannot convince, and propagates his character by the 
jjsword. JUNIUS. 

. * Thii ptiragraph gagged poor Leigh. / am rtally concerned 
for the man, and rvish it rvere possibk to open hU moulhu Ut 
\Si a very ■pretty orator. 



lU JUNIUS. 

LETTER XLII. 

To the Printer of the Puilic Jdvertiser. 

S.Ik, Jancart 30, 177;. 

If \re. recollect in what manner the Kins^s fntnds 
have been constantly employed, we shall have no 
reason to be surprised at any condition of disgrace to 
which the once respected naaie of Englishmen may be 
degraded. His M.gesty has no cares, but •^uch as con- 
cern the laws and constitution of tins country. In hir 
Royal breast there is no room left for resentment, no 
place for hostile sentiments against the natural ene- 
mies of his Crown. The .system of government is 
uniform. Violence and oppression at home can only 
be supported by treachery and submission abroad. 
When the civil rights of the people are daringly in- 
vaded on one side, what have we to expect, hut that 
their political rights should be deserted and betrayed, 
in the same proportion, on the other p The plan ol 
domestic policy, which has been invariably pur.'ued 
from the moment of his present Majesty's accession, 
engrosses all the attention of }<is servants. They know 
that the security of llieir places depends upon tlieir 
maintaining, at any hazard, the secret system of the ; 
closet. A foreign war might embarrass, an unfavoura- 
ble event might ruin the Minister, and defeat the deep- 
laid scheme of policy to which he and his associates 
owe their employments. Rather than suder the e.^e- 
cution of that scheme to be delayed or interrupted, the 
King has been advi.*cd to make a public surrender, a 
solemn sacrifice, in the face of all Einope, not only of 
tlie interests of his subjects, but of his own personal 
reputation, and ofthedi^nity of that crown which his 
predeces.sors have worn with honour. These are strong 
terms, Sir, but they are supported by fact and argu- 
ment. 

The King of Great Britain had been for some yearil 
in possession of an island, to which, as the Ministrj' 
themselves have repeatedly asserted, the Spaniards ' 
had no claim of right. The importance of the placri 
is not in question. If it were, a better judgment 
might be formed of it, from the opinion of Lord Kn- 
&%jx and Lord Egraont, and from the anxiety ef tire 



JUNIUS. 191 

■Spaniard?, Diaa from any fallaclom inslnuatioivs 
hrowii out by men, wljose interest it is to under- 
'ahip that property which they are determined^ to 
elinquisli. The pretensions of Spain were a subject 
>f negotiation between the two court?. They liad 
leen disiMis<!ed, bnt not admitt«^d. The King of 
Jpain, in these circumstances, bids adieu to amicable 
legotiation, and appeals directly to the sword. The 
:xpedition against Port Egmont, does not appear to 
.ave been a sudden, ill-concerted enterprise: It seems 
o have been cond'cted not only with the usual mili- 
ary precautions, but in all the forms and ceremonies 
'f war, A frigate was first employed to examine the 
frength of the place. A message was then sent, de- 
anding immediate possession, in the Catholic King's 
rap, and ordering our people to depart. At last, a 
ilitary force appears, and compels the garrison to 
rrender. A formal capitulation ensues; and hig 
ajesty's ship, which might at least have been per- 
itted to bring home his troops immediately, is de- 
jiicd in port twenty dayp, and her rudder forcibly 
iken away. This train of facts carries no appear- 
. i^e of the rashness or violence of a Spanish gover- 
or. On the contrary, the whole plan seems to have 
een formed and executed, in consequence of delibe- 
ate orders, and a regular instruction from the Span- 
«li, court. Mr. Buccarelli is not a pirate, nor has he 
een treated as such by those who employed him. I 
;el for the honour of a gentleman, when I affirm that 
ur King; owes him a signal reparation. Where will 
le humiliation of thi« coimtry end ? A King of Great 
ritain, not contented with placing himself upon a 
vel with a Spanish governor, descends so low as to 
) a notorious injustice to that governor. As a salvo 
}r his own reputation, he has been advised to traduce 
le character of a brave officer, and to trrat him as a 
:)mmon robber, when he knew, with certainty, that 
ir. Buccarelli had acted in obedience to his orders, 
nd had done no more than his duty. Thus it h^ip- 
ens, in private life, with a man who has no spirit, 
or sense of honour. One of his equals orders a ser- 
^nt to strike him. Instead of returning the blow to 
le ma.«ter, his courage is contented with throwing ao 
spersion, equally false and public, upon tlie character' 
; the servaat. 



102 JUNIUS. 

This short recapitulation was necessary to Introdnc 
the consideration of his Majesty's speech of the 13t 
November, 1770, and the subsequent measures of gn 
vernment. The excessive caution with which tii ' 
speech was drawn up, had impressed upon me an ea: 
ly conviction, that no serious resentment wasthougl 
of, and that the conclusion of the business, whenev( 
it happened, must, in some degree, be dishonourabil 
to England. There appears, through the whole speec 
a guard and reserve in the choice of expression, whic 
shows how careful the Ministry were, not to embarras 
their future projects by any firm or spirited declara 
tion from the throne. Wlien all hopes of peace ar 
lost, liis Majesty lells his Parliament, that he is pro 
paring not for barbarous war, but (with all his Mq 
ther's softness) /or a different situation. An open lioa 
tility, authorized by the Catholic King, is called oi 
act of a governor. This act, to avoid the mention q 
a regular siege and surrender, passes under the piralj 
cal description of seising by force ; and the thing tai 
ken is described, not as a part of the King's territory 
or proper dominion, but merely as a \)ossession ; y 
word expressly chosen in contradiction to, aad^;' 
elusion of the ideas of, right, and to prepare us for z 
future surrender both of the right and of the posses: 
sion. Yet this speech. Sir, cautious and equivocal a; 
it is, cannot, by sophistry, be accoinmjdated U 
the measures which have since been adopted. 1 
seemed to promise, that, whatever might be given ufl 
by secret stipulation, some care would be taken tc 
save appearances to the public. The event shows us 
thatrto depart, in the minutest article, from the nicety 
and strictness of punctilio, is a^? dangerous to national 
honour as to female virtue. The woman who admiu 
of one familiarityseldom knows where to stop, orwhai 
to refuse ; and, when the councils of a great country 
give way, in a single instance, when they once ar* 
inclined to submission, every step accelerates the ra- 
pidity of the descent. The Ministry themselves whet 
they framed the speech, did not foresee that the> 
should ever accede to such an accommodation as thej 
have since advised their Master to accept of. 

The King says, The honour of my croron^ and ikt 
rights of m>) people are deeply affected. The Spaniarti 
i^ bis reply, says, I mil give you back yossessiouj btn 



JUNIUS. 163 

dkere to my claim of prior right, reserviti^ the as- 
tion of it for a more favourable opportunity. 
The speech says, 1 made an immediate demmid of 
i^'attion ; and, if that Jails, I am prepared to do my- 
f justice Tiiisiinmedi^'e demand mast have been 
it to Madrid on the 12th of 8ept<^mber, or in a few 
ys after. It was certainly refused, or evaded, and 
^ King has not done himself justice. When the first 
agistrate speaks to the nation, some care should be 
ken of his apparent veracit7. 

Tlie s^/eech proceeds to sa)'', I shall not discontinue 
I preparations, until I have received proper reparation 
' the injury. If this assurance may be relied on, 
lat an enormous expense is entailed sine die upon 
IS unhappy country ! Restitution of a possession, and 
laration of an iojiry, are as different in substance 
they are in lan^^uaj^e. The very act of restitution 
ly contain, as in this instance it palpably does, a 
iraellil agsjravation of the injury. A man of spirit 
lesnot measure the degree of an injury by the mere 
isitive damage he has sustained ; he considers the 
inciple on wliich it is founded; lie resents the supe- 
irity asserted over him; and rejects, witk indigna- 
«i, the claim of right which his adversary endea- 
nrs to establish, and would force him to acknow- 
ijge. 

The motives on which the Catholic King makes res- 

!ution, are, if possible, more insolent and disgraceful 

1 our Sovereign, than even the declaratory condition 

loexed to it. After taking four months to consider 

liether the expedition was undertaken by his own 

iders or not, he condescends to disavow the enter- 

lise, and to restore the island; not from any regard 

fljtistice, not from any regard he bears to his Britannic 

) 2J^^ty, but merely/row the persuasion in which he 

of the pacific sentiments of the King of Great Britain. 

At this rate, if our King had discovered the spirit 

a man; if he had made a peremptory demand of 

tisfiction, the King of Spain would have given him 

.peremptory refusal. But why this unseasonable, 

is ridiculous mention of the King of Great Britain's 

pcific intentions.!' Have they ever been in question p 

' as lie the aggressor p Does he attack foreign powers 

Mhout provocation .f' Does he even resist, when he 

insulted? IVo, Blr; if an/ideas of strife or hostility 



194 JUNIUS. 

have entered his royal mind, they have a very d?ffe 
ent direction. The eueoties of England have nothin 
to fear from them. 

After all, Sir, to what kind of disavowal has tli 
King of Spain at last consented ? Supposing it mad 
in proper time, it should have been accompanied wit 
instant restitution: and if Mr. Buccarelli acted wjti 
out orders, he deserved death. Now, Sir, instead < 
immediate restitution, we have a four month's negc 
tiation: and the ofBc.er, whose aci is disavowed, k, 
turns to court, and is loaded with honours. , 

If the actual 'situation of Europe be considered, tl'^ 
treachery of the King's servants, particularly of Lor, 
l^'^orth, who takes the whole upon hiras.-lf, will appe<^ 
in the strongest colours of aggravation. Our allit, 
were masters of the Mediterranean. The King ■( 
France's present aversion from war, and the distraij 
tion of his affairs are notorious. He is now in a sta^ 
of war with his people. In vain did the Catholic Kirt 
soJicit him to take part in the quarrel against us. H, 
finances were in the la;^t disorder; and it was probi 
ble that his troops might find sufficient employment ^ 
home. In these circumstances, we raiy;ht have diet;; 
ted the law to Spain. There are no terms to whic, 
she might not have been compelled to submit. At t!, 
worst, a war with Spain alone carrie.« the fairest pr< 
jnise of advantage. One good effect, at least, wou; 
have been immediately produced by it. Tlie dese, 
tion of France would have irritated her ally, and, i 
all probability, have di>solved the family compac 
The scene is now fatally chmged. The advantage 
thrown away. Tlie most favourable opportunity i 
lost. Hereafter we shall know the value of it VVlje 
the French King is reconciled to his subjects — whe 
Spain has completed her preparations — when tlie coi 
lected strength of the hoi'.se of Bourbon attacks us i 
once, the King himself will be able to di'termine upc 
the wisdom or imprudence of his present conduct. .* 
far as the probability of argument extends, we ma 
safely pronounce, that a conjuncture which threatei 
the very being of this country, has been wilfully pr 
pared and forwarded by our own Ministry. How tl 
the people may be animated to resistance, under t! 
/present administration, I know not; but this 1 ltno\' 
with cei'iaioty, that, under tlie pres^irt admiuistratior ; 



JUNIUS. 195 

•rlfany thing like it sliould continue, it is of very lit- 
le moment whether we are a conqaered nation or 
ot* 

Having travelled thns far in the high road of mat- 
er of fact, 1 may now be permitted to wander a little 
ito t he field of imagination. Let us banish from our 
linds the persuasion, that these events have really 
appened in the reign of the best of Princes; let us 
Dnsider them as nothing more than the materials of 
fable, in which we may conceive the Sovereign of 
'me other country to be concerned. I mean to violate 
'1 the laws of probability, when I suppose that this 
aaginary King, after having voluntarily disgraced 
imself in the eyes of his subjects, might return to a 
n?e of his dishonour; that he might perceive the 
are l.iid for iiim by his Ministers, and feel a'S.iark 
'shame kindling in his breast. The part he must 
^en be obliged to act would overwhelm him with 
'•nfusion. To his Parliament he must say, / called 
jtt together t9 receive your advice, and have ne- 
'r asked your opi7iion. To the merchant, / have dis- 
■'.ssed your commerce: 1 have dragged your seamen 
t of your ships; I have loaded you with a grievotis 
Hght of insurances. To the landholder, / told you 
r rvas too probable, nhen J n^as determinded to submit 
any terms of accommodation; I extorted new taxes 
'm you before it was pomble they could be wanted, 
H am now unable to account for the application of 
w. To the public creditor, / have delivered up 
cr fortune a prey to foreigners, and to the vilest of 

*rAe A'fwg-'j accrplnnce of the Spanish axnhassador''s declara- 

>h is drawn up in barbarous French,, and signed by the Eart 

iRoeJford. This diplomatic Lord has spent his life in the 

)J]( and practice o/etiiiuettes, and is supposed to be a pro- 

ti.d master of the ceremonies. I will not insult him bj any 

rence to grammar or common sense : if he were even ac- 

intedwith the common forms of his office, I should thinh 

I as well quaUJitdfor it as any man in his Majesty^ s service. 

'r- reader is requested to observe Lord Rnchford's method of 

^lenficating a public instrument: '* En soi, de quoi,moi 

■signes un des princrpaux Secretaires d'Etat S. M. B. ai 

e la presente de ma signature ordinaire, ct icelle fait oppe- 

I: e eachet de nos Armes." In three lines there are no less than 

f^nfalse concords. But the man does not even know the style 

is office. If ht had known it, he ivould have said, " Nous', 

signc Secnteirc d'Etat ic S. i»X, B. a vons sisne," ^-cv 



196 KJNIUS. 

yQur fellow mhjeds. Perhaps this repenting Pi 
might conclude with one general acknowledgme 
them all : / have involved every rank of my sicbjec 
anxiety and distress ; and have nothing to offer yo 
return, but ike certainty oj national disnonoury an 
ed truce, and peace without security. 

If these accounts were settled, there would sti 
main an apology to he made to hi? navy and t 
army. To the first he would say, You were one 
terror of the world. But go back to your harbour 
man dishonoured, as I am, has no use for your so 
It is not prohnble that he would appear acjain b 
his soldiers, even in the pacific ceremony of a revi 
But, wherever he appeared, the humiliating cc 
sion would be extorted from liitn: / have recti 
blow, ^'. id had not spirit to resent it. I demanded sat 
tion, and have accepted a declaration, in which the 
to strike me again is asserted and confirmed. His ■ 
tenance, at least, would speak this language, and 
bis guards would blush for liim. 

But to return to our argument. The Ministi 
seems, are labouring to draw a line of distinctio 
tween the honour of the crown and the rights c 
people. This new idea has yet only been started i 
course; for, in effect, both objects have been eq 
sacrificed. I neither understand the distinctioi 
what use the Ministry propose to make of it. 
King's honour is that of his people. T/ieirrealh' 
and real interest are the same. I am not conto 
for a vain punctilio. A clear, unblemished chai 
comprehends not only the integrity that will not 
but the spirit that will not submit to, an injury 
whether it belongs to an individual, or to a com 
ty, it is the foundation of peace, of independent 
of safety. Private credit is wealth; public hon 
security. The feather tliat adorns the royal 
supports his flight. Strip hira of his pluraasre, an 
fix him to the earth. JUNI 

* A mistake: he appears before them every day, iv 
mark of a blon upon kisface, Proli pudor ! 



LETTER XLIII. 

To the Prmter of the Public Advertiser. 

R, Febbuart 6, 1771. 

I HOPS your correspondent, Junius, is better em- 
oyed than in answering or reading the criticisms oi' 
newopeiper. Thirii is a task, from which, if fie were 
. dined to submit to it, his rriei)d> ou2;ht to relieve 

■ m. Upon tliis principle, I shall undertake to an- 
rer Anti-Jnninf, more, 1 believe, to his conviction, 

: an to his satisfaction. Not daring to attack the 
ain body of Jiinhis's last letter, he triumphs ia 
iving, as he tliinks, surprised an op.t-post, and cut 
F a dftached argument, a mere straggling proposi- 

. >!i. But even in this petty warfare he shall find 
mself defeated. 
Junius does not speak of tlie Spanish nation as the 

■ tural enemies of England ; he applii^sthat descrip- 
i >n, with the sti ictest truth and justice, to the Spaii- 

I court. From the moment, when a Prince of the 

use of Bourbon ascended that throne, their wlioh^ 

I stem of government was inverted, and became 

ftile to this country. Unity of pon.-jesgion introdi;- 

"d a unity of politics ; and Lewis the Fourteenth 

- d reason, when he ^aid to hi? gr:ind«on, " Tke Py- 

lees are removed.-' The hi<!tory of the nre?ent 

utury is one continued confirmation of the pro- 

ecy. 

The assertion, " Tka^ violence and oppression at 
•ne, can oiHy be supported by treachery aitd submis- 
nabroad,'^ is applied to a free people, whose ris;lrt3 
; invi'ded,^ not to the government of a coimtry, 
ere despotic or absolute power is confes-edlv vest- 
iii the Prince J and, with this application, the as- 
tion 18 true. An absolute monarch, having no 
nts to carry at home, will naturally maintain the 
lOur of his crown, in all his transuctions with fo- 
jn !>owers. But, if we could suppose the sovereign 
\ free nation possessed with a design to make '>ira- 
-ib.solut*. he would be incr^nsistf-nt with liinr^^lf; 
te suffered uis nrojrcts to be interrupted or embar- 
ked by a iorrign war, unless thit war tended, as in 
c cases it mi;;ht, to promote his principal design. 
I 



188 JUNIUS. 

Gf the three exceptions to thi:< general rule ofconduo 
(quoted by Anti Junius) that of Oliver Cromwell ia th* 
iMily one in point. Harry the Eighth, by the submis 
sfion of his Parliament, was as absolute a Prince aj 
Lewis the Fourteenth. Queen Elizabeth's govern 
ment was not oppressive to the people, and as to hei 
fbreign wars, it ought to be considered, that they wen 
jniavoidable. The national honour was not in ques 
tion. She was compelled to fight in defence of her owi 
jierson, and of her title to the crown. In the comitioi 
eanse of selfish policy, Oliver Cromwell should havej 
/•ultivated the friendship of foreign powers, or, a-i 
least, have avoided disputes with them, the better to 
establish his tyranny at home. Had he been only a 
feiad man, he would have sacrificed the honour of the 
Mation to the success of his domestic policy. But, 
iMth all his crimes, he had the spirit of an English- 
man. The conduct of such a man must always be an 
exception to vulgar rule>'. Me had abilities sufficient 
to reconcile contradictions, and to make a great na- 
tion, at the same moment, unhappy and rorniidablc. 
if it were not for the respf^ct I bear the Minister, I 
rould name a man, who, without one grain of under- 
standing, can do half as much as Oliver Cromwell. 

^Vhethcr or no there be a secret iystcm in the closet, 
and what may he (he object of it, are questions whicii 
ran only be determined by appearances, and ou which 
»rVPTy man must decide for himself. 

The whole plan of Junins's letter proves, that he 
liimself makes no distinction between the real honour 
*»f the crown and the real interest of the people. (n 
The climax to which your correspondent objects, Ju- 
nius adopts the language of the court, and, by that 
( onformi'y, gives strength to his argument. He says, 
ihat ''the King has not ordy sacrificed the interest oj 
the people, but (what was likely to touch him more 
nearly) his personal rcptUalion, and the dignity of his^ 
<-?o?r«." 

The queries put by Anti Junius can only be answer- 
ed by the Ministry. Abandoned as they are, I fanqy 
iticy will not confess, that they have, for so mai)^ 
voars, maintained possession of another man's pi^ 
portv. ^fter admitting the assertion of the Ministpfj 
xh.'That the Spaniards had no rightful claim, ; 
after jnstifvjngthtu) for saying ?o, it is his hwfm 



©t mine, to give us some good reason for their suf- 
'.ring the pretewians of Spain tt be a subject of nego- 
ation. He admits tlie fact; let iiim reconcile theia 
he can. 

The last paragraph brings ns back to the original 
uestion, VVhetlier the Spanish declaration contains 
iich a satisfaction as the King of Great Britain 
ui^ht to have accepted ? This was the field upon 
T hich he ought to have encountered Junius openly 
nd fairly. But here he leaves the argument, as no 
mger defensible. I shall, therefore, conclude witii 
ne general admonition to ray fellow -sutijects; that, 
hen they hear these matters debated, they -houlcl 
ot suffer themselves to be misled by general declima- 
ions upon the conveniences of peace, or the miseries 
^|f war. Between peace and war abstractedly, there 
(li not, there cannot, be a question, in the mind of a 
ifitional being. The real questions are, Have we any 
i.curilif that the peace ive have so dearly purchased rvill 
ist a twelvemonth ? a nd if not, Have we, or have we not, 
tcrificed the fairest opportunity of making war with 
dvantage? PHILO JUNIUS. 



LETTER XLIV. 

Addressed to the Printer of the Public Advertiser, 

a, April 22, 177T. 

■' To write for profit, without taxing the press; to 
'rite for fame, and to be unknown; to support the 
ttrigues of faction, and to be disowned as a danger- 
is auxiliary by every party in the kingdom, are 
ontradictions which the Minister must reconcile be- 
•re I forfeit my credit with the public. I may quit 
le service, but it would be absurd to suspect rae of 
•3sertion. The rvputatio0 of these papers is an ho- 
iurable pledge for my attachment to the people, 
to sacrifice a re^pected character, and to renounce 
^le esteem of society, requires more than Mr. Wed^ 
*arbu rue's resolution: and though in him it was ra- 
cier a profession than a desertion of his principles (I 
*ieak tenderly of this gentlem-in ; for when treachery. 
* in question, [ think we should make allowattcee for 



2€f JUNIUS. 

a Scotchman) yet we have seen him in the Hoase o 

Commons overwhelmed with confnsicn, and almosl 

bereft of his faculties. But, in truth, Sir, I have leii 

no room for an accommodation with the piety of St 

James's, My offences are not to be redeemed b> 

recantation or repentance. On one side, onr wavmesi 

patriots would disclaim me as a btirden to their hoi 

ne«t ambition. On the other, the vilest prostitution. 

if Junius could descend to it, would Jose its natural 

merit and influence in the cabinet, and treachery b^ 

no longer a recommendati'^n to the royal favour. i 

The persons who, till witiiio the«e few years, have 

been most distinguished hy tlieir zeal for high-chnrcb< 

and prerogative, are how, it seems, the great assertora] 

of the privileges of the House of Commons. This sud-( 

den alteration of their sentiments, or language, carrief^ 

with it a suspicious appearance. When I hear tho 

undefined privileges of the popular branch of the Le-i 

gislatnre exalted by Tories and Jacobites, at thg 

expense of those strict rights which are known to the 

Subject and limited hy the lawe, I cannot but suspect! 

that some mischievous scheme is in agitation, to dei 

stroy both law and privilege by opposing them tq 

each other. Tliey who have uniformly denied tha 

power of tlie whole Legislature to alter the descent oi 

the Crown, and whose ancestors, in rebel'ion against 

bis Majesty's family, have defended that doctrme at 

the hazard of their lives, now tell us, that privilege oj 

Parliament is the only rule of right, and the cliiet 

security of the public freedom. I fear, Sir, that, 

while forms remain, there has been some material 

change in the substance of our constitution. Thd 

opinions of these men were too absurd to be so easily 

renounced. Liberal minds are open to conviction; 

liberal doctrines are ca pable of improvement There 

are proselytes from athei.nn, but none from superstition; 

If their present professions were sincere, I think they 

could not but be higb.ly offended at seeing a quet^tioni 

concerning pailiamentary privilege, unnecessarily 

"Started at a season so unfavourable to the House ol 

Commons, and by so very mean and insignificant a 

person as the minor Onslow. They knew that tlie 

present House of Commons, having commenced hos c 

tilitics with the people, and degraded the autliortye 

of the laws by their o^vu example, were likely enoujli 



JUNIUS. 201 

\y^ be resisted per fas et nf/as. If they were really 
fiends to privilege, they would have thotij^ht the 
■(uestion of right too dangerous to be hazarded at this 
icafion, and without the formality of a convention, 
[ yould have left it undecided. 

I I have been silent hitherto, though not from that 
[ihameful indifference about the interests of society, 
i'jhicb too ni?*ny of i\? profess, and call moderatioa. 
I i confesp. Sir, tlint I felt the prejudices of my educa- 
Hon in favour of a House of Commons still hanging 
bout me I thought that a question between law 
"nd ;irivilege could never be brought to a formal de- 
cision without inconvenience to the public service, or 
i. mauifpst diminution of legal liberty; and that it 
tught therefore to be carefully avoided : and when I 
iaw that the violence of the House of Commons had 
^iarried them too far to retreat, i determined not to 
veliver a hnsty opinion upon a matter of so much 
ielicacy and importance. 

;i The state of tilings is much altered in this country 

nnce it was necessary to protect our rgpresontatives 

< gainst the direct power of the Crown. We have 

li'othing to apprehend from prerogative, but evtry 

qihing from undue influence. Formerly, it was the 

nterest of the people that the privileges of Parlia- 

lent sliould be left unlimited and undefined At 

resent, it is not only their interest, but 1 hold it to be 

ssentially necessa'ry to the preservation of the con- 

dtution, that the privileges of Parliament should be 

'i:rictly ascertained, and confined within the narrowest 

ounds the nature of their institution will admit of. 

Jpon the same principle on which I would have 

egisted prerojrative in the last century, 1 now resist 

rivilege. It is indifferent to me, whether the CroAvn, 

y its own immediate act, imposes new, and dispenses 

ith old laws, or whether the same arbitrary power 

[Toduces the same effects through the medium of the 

ilouse of Commons. We trusted our representatives 

ith privileges for their own defence and ours. We 

oannot hinder their desertion, but we can prevent 

I'leir carrying over their arms to the service of the 

) lemy. It will be said, that I begin with endeavour- 

"fg to reduce the argument concerning privilege to a 

M'-ere quesU^a tf ceHvenieDcej that I deny, at eB« 

ii. ^ 



202 ^MUS. 

moment, what I would allow at another ; and that,! 
to resist the po\Ter of a prostituted House of Commons,' 
may establish a precedent injurious to all Ttituret 
parliament:^. To this I answer, generally, thAt hu- 
man dffiirs are in no instance governed by strict 
positive right. If chang:*? of circnmstances were to* 
have no weight in diieetins our conduct and opinions, 
the mutu-il intercourse of mankind would be nothing 
more than a contention between positive and equita- 
ble right. Society would he a state of war, and lawi 
itself would be injustice. On this general ground, it 
is highly reasonable, that the dearee of our submission^ 
to privileges which have never been de6ned, by any' 
positive law, should be considered as a question oft 
convenience, and propoitioned to the confidence we' 
repose in the integrity of our representatives. As to' 
the itijury we may do to any future and more respect-' 
able House of Commons, I owu I am not now sanguine' 
eno(ieii to expect a more plentiful harvest of parlia- 
mentary virtue in one j^ear than in another. Ourj 
political climate is severely altered ; and, without 
dwelling upon the depravity of modern times, I think' 
no reasonable man will expect that, as human nature* 
is constituted, the enormous influence of the Crown' 
should cease to prevail over the virtue of individuals. ^ 
The mischief lies too deep to he cured by any remedy j 
less than son)e great convulsion, which may either I 
carry back the constitution to its original princii:les,' 
or utterly destroy it. I do not doubt, that, in the first 
session after the next election, some popular measures 
may he adopted. The present House of Commons 
have injured themselves by a too early and public- 
profession of their principles; and if a strain of pros-' 
titutiou, which had no exnmple, were within the reach 
of emulation, it might be imprudent to hazard the ex- 
periment too soon. But after all, Sir, it is very im- 
material, whether a House of Commons shall preserve 
their virtue for a week, a month, or a year. The 
influence which makes a septennial Parliament de- 
pendent on the pleasure of the Crown, has a perma- 
nent operation, and cannot fail of success My pre- 
mises, I know, will be denied in argument; but every 
man's conscience tells him they are true. It remains^ 
then, to be coasidered, whe,ther it be for the ijit^esV 



JUNIUS. 203 

people, that privilege of Parliament* (wliich in 
ct to the purposes for which. it has hitherto beeu 
icqiiiesced under, is merely nomiEial) should be con- 
pflfted within sonic certain limits; or, whetlier t!ie 
abject sliall.be left at the mercy of ;i power, arbitrary 
pon the face of it, and notoriously under tlie direction 
^ the Crown. x 

I do not mean to decline the question of right; on the 
bntrary, Sir, 1 join issue with the advocates for priyi- 
lidge, and affirm, that, excepting the cjisef," wherein tfie 
louse of Commons are a court of judicature (to which, 
ff-om the nature of their office, a coercive f)ower mu?L 
/,elong) and excepting such contempts as immedi.itc- 
,(,p interrupt their proceeditij!', they have no legal au- 
jliority to imprison any man for any supposed viola- 
ion of privilege whatsoever." It is not pretended 
I hat privilege, as now claimed, has ever been defined 
)i»r confirmed by statute; neithcrcan it be said, witli 
/iny colour of truth, to be a part of the common lau- 
•f England, which had grown into prescription long 
)ef()re we knew any thing of the existence of a House 
!!>f Common.s. As for the law of Parliament, it is only 
iiinother name for the privilege in question: andsiuce 
jlie power of creating new privileges has been forni- 
>JIy renounced, by both Houses, since there is no codf 
vin wliich we can study tlie law of Parliament, v.e 
1 lave bu.t one way left to make ourselves acquainted 
^jvith it; that is, to compare the nature of the institu- 
jjion of a Hoiiseof Commons with the facts upon record. 
iiTo establish a claim of privilege in either House, and 
: o distinguish original right from usurpation, it mu^t 
jippear, that it is indispensably necessary for tlie per- 
formance of the duty they are employed in, and also 
iihat it lias been uniformly allowed. From the first 
jj&rt of this description, it follows clearly, that, wliat- 

J * The necessity of securing the House of Commcms agaimt 
he Kirg's porvcr, so that no inh TTuption mi%ht be given cither 
o the attendance of ike members in Parliament, or to thefrec- 
■tom of debate, nas thefoundation of Farliamentary privHesc : 
'^md we may observe, in all the addresses of new appointed 
speakers to the Sovereign, the utmost privilege they demand, is 
; iberty of speech, and freedom from arrests. The very word 
iiriviles^e means no more than immunity, or a safeguard to the 
i.aarti/ nho possesses if, nvd can never be cors^ucd into an active 
■joner of invrtfitng the rights nf others. 



204 JJTNFUS. 

rv'er pilvlle*e does of right belong: to llie preseal 
House of Commons, did eqiially belong to tlie first 
sssfmbly of their predecessors; was as completely 
vested in thera, and might have been exercised in tlie 
same extent. From the second we must infer, that 
privilege-*, which (or several centuries were not only 
never allowed, but never even claimed by the House 
of Commons, must be founded upon usurpation. 'J'he 
constitutional duties of a House of Commons are not 
very complicated nor mysterious. They are to pro- 
pose or assent to wholesome laws, for liie benefit of 
the nrttlon. They are to grant the necessary aids to 
the King ; petition for the redress of grievances; and 
prosecute treason or high crimes against the state. If 
unlimited j rivilege be necessary to the performance ' 
of these d-ities, we have reason to conclude, that, for 
many centuiies after the institution of the House of 
Connnons, they were never performed. I am not 
bound to prove a negative; but 1 appeal to the Eng- 
lish hi>tory, when I affirm that, with the exceptions 
already stated, which yet I might safely relinquish, 
there is no precedent, from the j^ear 1265, to the death 
of Queen Elizabeth, of the House of Commons having 
imprisoned any man (not a member of their House; 
for contempt or breach of privilege. In the most fla- 
grant cases, and wiien their acknowledged privileges 
were most grossly violated, the 'poor Commons, as 
thoy then styled themselves, never took the power of 
puniehmei)t in their own hands. They either sought 
ledress by petition to the King, or what is more re- 
markable, applied for justice to the House of Lords; 
and, when satisfaction was denied them, or delayed, 
their only remedy was to refuse proceeding upon the 
King's business. So little conception had our ances- 
tors of the monstrous doctrines now maintained con- 
cerning privilege, that, in tlic reign of Elizabeth, even 
liberty of speech, the vital principle of a deliberate 
assembly, was restrained by the Uneen's autiiority to 
a simple aye or no ; and this restriction, though im- 
posed upon three successive Parrnments,* was never 
©nee disputed by the House of Commons. 

1 know there are many precedents of arbitrary 
commitments for contempt; but, besides that they are 

* U the Hears 15^3, 1597. nnd t6>»l. 



J*JNIUS. 2QJ. 

jof too modern a date to Avarrant a presumption that 
JiBuch a power was originally vested in the House oi" 
\\ Commons, fact alone does not constitute right. If it 
sidoes, general warrants were lawful. An ordinance 
; of the two Houses has a force equal to law ; and the 
* criminal jurisdiction assumed by the Commons in 
h- 1621, in the case of Edward Lloyd, is a good prece^ 
pi dent to warrant the like proceedings against any mar* 
l.who shall unadvisedly mention the folly of a King or 
I the ambition of a Princess. The truth is, Sir, that the 
ii'greatest and most exceptionable part of the privileges 
' now contended for, were introduced and asserted by 
tia Hou?e of Commons, which abolished both Monar- 
ilchy and Peerage, and whose proceedings, although 
sthey ended in one glorious act of substantial justice, 
Teould no way be reconciled to the forms of the con- 
I'l'stitution. Their successors profited by the example^ 
jiand confirmed their power by a moderate or popular 
use of it. Thus it grew, by degrees, from a notorious 
innovation at one period, to be tacitly admitted as the 
privilege of Parliament at another. 

If, however, it could be proved, from considerations 
of necessity or convenience, that an unlimited power 
of commitment ought to be intrusted to the House of 
Commons, and that, in fad, they have exercised it 
without opposition, still, in tontemplation of law, the 
presumption is strongly against tliera. It is a leading 
maxim of the laws of England (and, without it, all 
laws are nugatory) that there is no right without a 
remedy, nor any legal power without a legal course 
to carry it into effect. Let the power, now in ques- 
, tion, be tried by this rule The speaker issues his 
Hwarrantof attachment. The party attached either 
resists force with force,^ or appeals to a magistrate, 
\who declares the warrant illegal, and discharges the 
prisoner. Does the law provide no legal means for 
enforcing a legal warrant p Is there no regular pro^ 
needing pointed out in our law books, to assert and 
vindicate the authority of so high a court as the House 
of Commons? The question is answered directly by 
the facti their unlawful commands are resisted, and 
they have no remedy. The imprisonment of their own 
members is revenge indeed ; but it is uo assertion o? 
12 



Ii06 JUNIUS, I 

the privilege Ihey contend for.*= Their whole pro- 
ceeding stops ; ai)u tiiere Iht-y stand, ashamed to re- 
treat, and unable to advance. tSir, these ignorant 
men shosild be informed, thai tlie execution of the 
laws of England is not left in this uncertain, deCence- 
le?;s condition. If tlie process of the courts of West- 
uiinster-hall be resisted, they have a direct course to 
enforce snbniis?inn. Tlie conil of King's Bench corn- 
anands the sherilF to raif^e the posse comitaius; the 
courts of Chancery and Exchequer issue a v:rit ofye- 
hellion; which must also be supported, if necessary, 
by ttie power of the country. To whom will our ho- 
nest representatives direct their writ of rebi-liion,^ 
The guards, I doubt not, are willing enough lo be 
wnployed; but they know nothing of the doctrine of 
writs, and may thiiik it necessary to wait for a letter 
IVoni Lord Barrington. 

It may now be objected to me, tliat mv arguments 
prove too much ; for that certainly there may be in- 
stances of contempt and insult to the House of Conj- 
luons, which do not fall within my own exception?^ 
yet, in regard to the dignity of the House, ought not 
to j)ae3 unpunished. Be it so. The courts of criminal 
j.irisdictiou are open to prosecutions, which the At- 
torney-General may commence by inibrmation or in- 
dictment. A libel tending to asperse or vilify the 
House of Commons, or any of their nieR^hers, may be 
as severely punished in the Court of King's 'dench, 
as a libel upon the King. Mr. De Grey thought so, 
when he drew up the inforixialion of my letter to Wm 
M:)jesty, or he had no meaning in charging it to be 
a scandalous libel upon the House of Commons. In 
my opinion, they would consult their real dignity 
jnuch better, by appealing to the laws, when they are 
offended, than by violating the first principles of na- 
tural justice, wliicli forbids us to be judges, when vve 
are parties to Use causcf 

S= Uipon tkeir orjnpriRCipUt, they should hnvt commiiled Mr. 
fVUkcs, nho had been guilty of a greater offence than eve?i the 
Loni Ma',oror Aldennan Oliver. But^tifier rcptateAly order' 
ifl.g him to attend, ihci) al last adjourned- beyond ike day ap' 
pointed/or his nUc;:da:ice, and by this mean, pitiful evasion, 
gave vp the p('liil. 

i " Ifii be demanded, iv case a subject shou'd be committed 
(ij cithi^r JJvusi. for a matter vianlfcstly out of ihdr jtciisdic- 



JUNIUS. 207 

! - Idonotraeantopur.^uptiiem lurongh the remainder 
lof tlicir proceedings. In their first resolutions, it is pos- 
sible tliey niiffht liavebeen deceived by ill considered 
iprece.ients. For the rest, there is no colour of pallia- 
tion or excuse. They have advised. the King to re- 
sume a power of dispensing vvitii the laws by royal 
proclamation;* and Kings we see are ready enough 
to follow euch advice. By mere violence, and with- 
out the shadow of right, they have expunged the re- 
3Cordof a judicial proceeding.-)- Nothing remained but 
to attribute to their own vote a power of stopping the 
whole distribution of criminal and civil justice. 

The public virtues of the Ciilcf Magistrate havi"? 
•rlong since ceased to be in question. But, it is said 
that iie has private iiood qualities; and I myself have 
been ready to acknowledge them. They are now- 
brought to the test. If he loves his people, lie will 
dissolve a Parliament, which they can never confide 
in or respect. If he has any regard for his own honour, 
'le will disdain to he any longer connected with such 
abandoned prostitution. But, if it were conceivable, 
that a King of this country had lost all sense of per- 
gonal honour, and all concern lor the welfare of his 
inbjects, I confess, Sir, 1 should be contented to re- 

[tion, what remedy he can have? Innsner, that it canvot TuelL 

■ ie imagiaed that the law, n'hich, favours notkin<^ more, than the 
"ibcrtii oJ'Uu fiibjert, should give ?/.? a remtdy against covmiit- 
•nenls by the King himself, appearing to be illegal, and yet give 
'aw no manner of redress against a cc>mmilment by ourfellctv- 
'iubjects, eqitally appearing to be unwarranted. But, as this 
"s a case which, I am persuaded, will never happen, it seems 
ticcdksi over-nicely to examine it." Hawkin?, ii. 1 10. 

' iV. B. He was a good lawyer, but no prophet. 

■ * That their practice might be every way conformable to their 
.Principles, the House proceeded to advise the Crown to pnblisk 

I proclamation, vniversally aclinowhdged to be illegal. JMr. 
Vorclon publicly protested against it before it was issued ; and 
Lord Mansfield, though nut scnipnlons to an extreme, speaks 
if it with horror. It is remarkable enough, that the very mer^ 
vho advised the proclamation, and who hear it arraigned every 
lay, both within doors and without, are not daring enough to 
liter one word in iti defence: nor have they ventured to take 
■he least notice of Mr. Wilkes, J or discharging the persons ap- 
irekindrd under iti 
t Lord Ciialham wry properly called (his tite aot Gfamf^f. 

Wf f'f ft SCKUf.': 



2&8 JUNIUS. 

noiince the forms of Iheconsti tution oncer.iore, if th«t; 
were no other way to obtain substantial justice for 
the people.* JUI^IUS, 



LETTER XLV. 

To the Frinter of the PvhUc Jdvertiser. 

SIR, Mat 1,1771. 

They who object to detached parts of Jiiniiis's last 
letter, either do not mean him fairly, or have not con- 
sidered tlie general scope and course of his arjrnment. 
There are degrees in all the private vices; why not 
in public prostitution p The influence of the Crown 
naturally makes a septenoial Parliament dependent. 
Does it follow, that every House of Commons will 

S lunge at once into the lo7vest depths of prostitution ? 
unius supposes, that the present House of Commons, 

* IVhcn Mr. Wilkes mas to be pvnished, they made no scruple 
lihout Ihc privileges of Farliamenl ; and uUhou^h it was as wdl 
known as any matter of public record and uninierruplid cusiovi 
could be. That the members of either House are privileged , 
except in case of treason, felony, or breach of peace, tliey 
declared nnlkout hesitation, That privilege of Parliament did 
not extend to the case of a seditious libel ; and vndovbiedlif 
they nould have done the same if Mr. Wilkes had been prose- 
cuted for any other misdemeanor whatsoever. The Ministry 
are, of a sudden, groivn wonderfully careful of privileges y 
which their predecessors were as ready to invade. The knojvn 
l-aws of the land, the rights of the subject, the sanctity of char- 
ters, and the reverence due to our magistrates, must all give 
may, without question or resistance, to a privilege of which no 
WMu knows either the origin or the extent. The House ofCom- 
?no as judge of their own privileges without appeal: they may 
take offence at the most innocent action, and imprison the per- 
son who offends them during their arbitrary will and pleasure. 
The party has no remedy: he cannot app-alfrom their jurisdic- 
tion : and if he questions the privilege which he is supposed to 
have violated, it bec&mes an aggravation (f his offence. Surely 
this^octrinc is not to be found in Magna Charta. If it be ad- 
mitted nithovl limitation, I nffinn Vial there is neither law not 
liberty vi this kingdom. We are ike slaves of the House ofConi- 
fi'ons : and, through thetn, ne arc tlavcs of the King and' 
■Mhiishrs. AROnyiBOiis. 



I JL'NI&S: 209 

111 ::oing gncii enormous length?, have been iinprudent 
' to themselves, as well as wicked to the publir, ; that 
j their example is not within the reach of emulation ; 
I and that, in the first session after the next election, some 
j popular measuresmay probably he adopted. Uedoes 
j not expect that a dissolution of Parliament wil} de- 
i stroy corruption, but that, at least, it wili be a check 
I and terror to their successors, who will have seen, 
j that, in flagrant cases, their constituents can and will 
j interpose with efl'ect. Alter all, Sir, will you not en- 
j deavour to remove or alleviate the most dangerous 
j symptoms because you cannot eradicate the disease? 
I Will you not punish treason or parricide, becausethe 
I sight of a gibbet does not pre- ent highway robberies P 
I When the main argument of Junius is admitted, to be 
I unanswerable. I think it would become the minor cri- 
tic, who hunts for blemishes, to be a little more dis- 
itrustful of his own sagacity. The other objection is 
hardly worth an answer When Junius observes, that 
Kings are ready enough to follow such advice, he does 
not mean to insinuate, that, if the advice of Parlia- 
ment were good, the King would be so ready to fol« 
low it. PHiLO JUNIUS. 



LETTER XLVI. 

Addressed to the Printer of the Public Jdvertiser. 

May 22, 1771. 

Vert early in the debate upon the decision of the 
■ Middlesex election, it was well observed, by Junius, 
that tlie House of Commons had not only exceeded 
theii- boasted precedent of the expulsion, and subse- 
quent incapacitation of Mr. Walpole, but that tbey 
had not even adhered to it strictly, as far as it went. 

After convicting Mr. Dyson of ;giving a false quo- 
tation frora^ the journals, and having explained the 
purpose which that contemptible fraud was intended 
to answ or, be proceeds to state the vote itself, by which 
Mr. \Valpole'8 .supposed incapacity was declared, 
viz. *' Resolved, That Robert Walpole, Esq. having 
.been this session of Parliament committed a prisoaer 



2l« JtJNIUS. 

to Ihe Tower, and expelled this Houce, for a high 
breactj of trust in the execution of his office, and noto- 
rious corruption when .Secretary -t War, was, ind is 
incapable of being elected a meruber to serve in this 
present Parliament." And then observes, that, from 
the terms of the vote, we h ' ve no right to aimex the 
incapacitation to the expulsion only; for that, as the 
proposition stands, it must arise equally from the ex- 
pulsion and the commitment to the Tower. I believe, 
Sir, no man, who knows any thing of dialectics, or 
■who understands English, will dispute the trut.h and 
feirness of fliis construction. But Junius has a great 
authority to support him, which, to speak with the 
Duke of Grafton, I accidentally met with this morning 
in the course of my reading. It contains an admoni- 
tion, which cannot be repeated too often. Lord Som- 
mers, in his excellent Tract upon the rights of the peo- 
ple, after reciting the votes of the convetition of the 
28th of January, ie;89, viz. "That King James H. ha- 
ving endeavoured to subvert the constitution of this 
kingdom, by breaking the original contract between 
King and people ; and by t!ie advice of Jesuits, and 
other wicked periJons, having violated thefundamen- 
fcil Laws, and having withdrawn himself out of this 
lcinccdom,_ hath abdicated the Government," 6cc. 
Hiakes this observation upon it: " The word ahdi- 
mted relates to all the clauses aforegoing, as well as 
to his deserting the kingdom, or else they would have 
been wholly in vain." And, tliat there might be no 
jtretence for confining the abdication merely to the 
7vitMrnrving, Lord Snmmers farther observes, That 
King James, by rrfusing to govern lis according to 
that law by which he held the Crown, did implicitly re^ 
nounce his title to it. 

U Jimius's construction of the vote against Mr. 
Walpole be now admitted, and, indeed, I cannot com- 
preiiend how it can honestly be disputed, the advo- 
cates of the House of Commons must either give up 
thf ir precedent entirely, or be reduced to t!ie neces- 
sity of maintaining one of the grossest absurdities ima- 
ginable, viz. " That a commitment to the Tower is 
a constituent part of, and contributes half at least to, 
the incapacitation of tlie person who suffers it." 

I need not make you any excuse for endeavouring, 
to keep aliv^ the attcnlioa of the public, to the dici^ 



JUNIUS. 211 

■Aon of the Middlesex tlection. The more I consider 
^it, the more I aru convinced, that, as a fact, it is, in- 
deed, higlily injurious to the riglits of the people ; but 
■that, as a 2)re.ccdtnt> it is one of the most dangerous 
ii^that ever was established airaiiist tho?e who are to 
hcoine after u.<. Yet 1 am so far a moderate man, that 
hi verily believe the majority of tlie House of Com- 
i'mons, when they passed tliis dangerous vote, neitlier 
t jmderstood the question, or knew the consequence of 
hwiiat tiiey were doing. Their motives were rather 
despicable, than criminal, in the extreme. One effect 
they certainly did not foresee. They are now rcdu- 
'ced to sucli a sit!! -tion, that, if a Member of the pre- 
Psent House of Commons were to conduct himself ever 
•ISO improperly, and, in reality, deserve to be sent back 
to his constituents witli a mark of disgrace, they would 
•'not dare to expel hiui; because they know that the 
^people, in order to try ajrain the great que.stion of 
riglit, or to thwart an odious House of Commsns, 
'Would probably overlook his immediate unworthiness, 
"and return the same person to Parliament. But, in 
^time, the precedent will gain strength. A future 
House of Commons will have no such apprehensions, 
consequently will not scruple to follow a precedent 
which they did not establisl). The miser himself sel- 
jom lives to enjoy the fruit of his extortion ; but his 
leir succeeds to him of course, and takes possession 
without censure. No man expects him to make resti- 
-utioo, and no matter for his title, he lives quietly up- 
on the estate. PHILO JUPiiUS. 



LETTER XLVII. 

To the Printer of the Public Adverliser. 

»», Mat 25, 1771. 

I CONFESS my partiality to Junius, and feel a consl'- 
lerable pleasure in being able to communicate any 
ihing to the public in support of his opinions. The 
loctrine laid down in liis last letter, concerning the 
owcr of the House of Commons to commit for con- 
empt, is not so new as it appeared to many people; 



212 JUNIUS. 

who, dazzled with the n^me of privilege,hnd never 
suffered themselves to examine the question fairly. 
In the course of my reading this morning, I met with 
the following passage in the Journals of tlie House of 
Commons, (Vol. i. p. 603.) Upon occasion of a juris- 
diction unlawfully assumed by the House in the year 
1621, Mr. Attorney-General Noye gave his opinion 
as follows: "iVo doubt, but in some cases, this House 
may give jud2;nient; in matters of returns, and con- 
cerning members of our House, or falling out in our 
view in Parliament; but, for foieign matters, knoweth 
not how we can judge it : knoweth not that we have 
been used to give judgment in any case, but those be- 
fore mentioned." 

Sir Edward Goke, upon the same subject, says, 
(page 60'1) "iVo question but this is a Hou?e of re- 
cord, and that it hath power of judicature in some 
cases; liave power to judge of returns and members 
ftf our House. One, no member, oflTending out of the 
Parliamoiit, 7vken he came hither, and jusllfied it, wa,s i 
censured for it." ! 

I Now, Sir, if you will compare tljc opinion of these 
great sages of the law with Junius's doctrine, you will ■ 
find they tally exactly. He allows the power of the 
Ho'use to commit their own members, wlu^h, how- 
ever, they may grossly abu.«e ; he allows their power 
in cases were they are acting as a court of judicature, 
viz. elections, returns, &c. and he allows it in such 
contempts as immediately Lntenupt their proceedings ; 
or, as Mr. IV.oye expresses it,/aliing out in their view 
in Parliament. 

They who would carry the privileges of Parliament 
farther tiian Junius, either do not mean well to the 
public, or know not what they are doing. The go- 
vernment of England is a government of law. We be- 
tray ourselves, we contradict the spirit of our laws, and 
we shake the whole system of English jurisprudence, 
whenever we intrwst a discretionaiy power over the 
life, liberty, or fortune of the subject, to any man, or 
set of men, whatsoever, upon a presumption that it 
yiil Bot be abused, PHILO JU.\1US. 



JUNIUS* 213 

LETTER XLVIII. 

To the Pi-inter of the Public Advertiser. 

nty Mat 28, 1771. 

[ Any man who takes the trouhle of perusing the 
fournals of t!ie House of Commons, will soon be 
convinced, that very little, if any regard at all, ought 
to be paid to the resolutions of one branch of the le- 
gislature, declaratory of the law of the land, or even 
of what they call the law of Parliannent. It will ap- 
pear that these resolutions have no one of the pro- 
pcptips by which, in this country particularly, law is 
distinguished from mere will and pleasure; but that, 
,on the contrary, they bear every mark of a power 
Jarhitrariiy assumed, and capriciously applied : that 
.tiiey are usually madein limes of contest, andto serve 
.some unworthy purpose of passion, or party; that the 
law is seldom declared until after the fact by which 
it is supposed to he violated ; that legislation and 
jurisdiction are united in the same persons, and ex- 
ercised at the same moment; and that a court from 
■which there is no appeal, assumes an original juris- 
diction in a criminal case. In short, Sir, to collect a 
thousand absurdities into one mass, " we have a law 
'which cannot be known, because it is ex post facto: 
! the party i^ both legislator and Judge, and the juris- 
! diction is without appeal." Well mij^ht the judges 
say, " The lam of Parliament is above t/s." 
, You will not wonder, Sir, that with these qualifi- 
cations, the declaratory resolutions of the House of 
Commons should a;)pparto be in pirpetual contradic- 
tion, not only to common sense, and to the laws we 
are acquainted with, (and which alone we can obey,) 
bnteven to one another. I was led to trouble you 
■with tliese observations by a passage, which, to speak 
in lutestring, I met with thismorning in the course of 
my readiyigydind upon which 1 mean to put a question 
to the advocates for privilege. On the 8th of March, 
' 1704, (vide Journals, vol. xiv. p. 566,) the House 
thought proper to come to the following resolutions : 
" That no Commoner of England, committed by the 
I HouBe of Commons for breacit of privilege, or cob- 



214 :■ JUNIUS.- 

tempt of that House, ought to be, by any writ of Ha-\ 
beas Corpus, made to a^jpear in any otiier place, or! 
before any other judicature, daring that session of! 
parliament wherein such person was so committed.'* i 

2. "That the Sergeant at \rms, attending this i 
House, do make no return of, or yield any obedience' 
to, the said writs o( Habeas Corpus; and for such his 
refusal, tirat he have the protection of the House of » 
Commons.'"* I 

VV'eibore Ellis, what say you? Is this the law of i 
Parliament, or is it not ? I am a plain man, Sir, and ', 
cannot follow you through the phiegmatic forms ofi 
an oration. Speak out, Grildrig, say yes or no. If' 
you say yes, I shall then inquire by what authority 
Mr. De Gray, the honest Lord M<insfield, and the- 
Barons of the Exchequer, dared to grant a writ of i 
Habeas Corpus for bringing the bodies of the Lord I 
Mayor and Mr. Oliver before them; and why the i 
Lieutenant of the Tower, made any return to a writJ 
which the House ofCommons had in a similar instance | 
declared to be unlawful. If you say no, take carei 
you do not at once give up the cause in support of 
which you liave so long and so laboriously tortured i 
your under^itanding. Take care you do not confess* 
that there is no test by which we can d>stinguish, no' 
evidence by which we can determine, what i.", and < 
what is not, the law of Parliament. The resolutions! 
I have quoted, stand upon your journals, uncontro- 
verted and unrepealed : they contain a declaration ol 
thfe law of Parliament, by a court competent to thei 
question, and whose dfcision, asyou and Lord Mans-i 
iield say, must be law, because there is no appeal from, 
it: and they were made not hastily, but after longi 

*If there be, in reality, any such law in England, as the I -aw 
of ParliameDt, which (under the exception stated in my letter 
onprivilege) I confess, after long deUbcralion, I very much 
doubt, it certainly is not constitulcd by, nor can it be colUcted 
from the resolutions of either House, whether enacting or de- 
claratory. / desire the reader will compare the abovcresol'U- 
iions of the year \'iOA, with the following of the 3d vf April, 
1628; — " Resolved, That the rvrit o/*Hab"eas Corpus cannot 
be denied, but ought to be granted to every man that is com- 
mitted or detained in prison, or otherivise restrained by the 
command of the King, the privy council, or any other, he 
praying the same.'" 



JUNIUS.. 215 

iJeliberation upon a constitutional question. What 
artlier sanction or solemnity will you annex to any 
s-esohition of tlie present Honse of Commons, beyond 
'vhat appears upon the face of those two resolutions, 

he legality of which you now deny ? If you say that 
I'Parliaments are not infrtilihle, and that Queen Anne,' 
1 n consequence of the violent proceedings of that House 
1 >f Commons, was obliged to prorogue and dissolve. 
: hem, I shall agiree with you very heartily, and think 
irhat the precedent ought to be followed immediately. 
13nt you, Mr Ellis, who hold this language, are in- 
li:onFistent with your own principles. You have hi- 
i'lherto maintained, that the House of Commons are 
5;he sole judges of their own privileges, and that their 
sileclaration does i;7So/acto constitute thelawofParlia- 
l:nent; yet now you confess that Parliaments are fal- 
[i ihle, and that their resolutions may be illegal : con- 
sequeotly, that their resolutiocus do not constitute the 
'taw of Parliameut. When the King was urged to dis- 
siolve the present Parliameut, you advised him to tell 
nin subjects, that he was careful not to assume any of 
whose powers which the constitution had placed in 
hther hindSy &(C Yet Q,ueen Anne, it seems, was justi- 
i'jed in exerting her prerogative to stop a House of 
iOommons, whose proceedings, compared with those 
tjf the assembly of wliich you are a most worthy 
sMember, were the perfection of justice and reason. 
I In what a labyrinth of nonsense does a man involve 
laimself who labours to maintain falsehood by argu- 
siaaentp How much better would it become the dignity 

>f the House of Commons, to sueak plainly to the 
it^eople, and tell us, at once, that their will must be 
\^beyed, ; not because it is Uinful and reasonable, but 

because it is their will ! Their constituents would 
'aave a better opinion of their candour, and, I promise 

fou, not a worse opinion of their integrity. 

PHILO JUJSIUS. 



2ia JUNIUS. 

LETTER XLIX. 
To kis Grace the Duke of Grafton. 

ilT LORD, .ICNE 22, 1771. • 

The nrofonnd respect I bear to the gracioii« Piince 
who govenis? this coiintry, witH no less- honotir lo him- 
self than patipfaction to hi« subjects, and who restores 
you to your rank under his standard, will save you 
from a multitude of reproaches. The attention I 
should have pnid to your faih'nc:?, is involuntarilv 
att-iched to the hand that rewards them; and t)ior,gh 
I am not so partial to the Royal jiulgment as to affirm, 
that the favour of a king can remove monntaius of 
infamy, it serves to lessen, at least, (for undoubtedly 
it divides) the burden. While I remembefihow much 
is due to his sacred character, I cannot, with any de- 
cent appearance of propriety, call you the meanest 
and basest fellow in the kingdom. I protest, my 
Lord, I do not think you so. You will have a dan- 
gerotis rival in that kind of fame, to which you have 
hitherto so happily directed your ambition, as long as 
there is one man living who thinks you worthy of his 
confidence, and fit to be trusted with any share i:) his 
government. I confess you have great intrinsic m^it; 
but take care you do not value it too highly. Consi- 
der how much of it would have been lo'^t to the world, 
if the King had not graciously affixed his stamp, and 
given it currency among his subjects. If it be true 
that a virtuous man, struggling with adversity, be a 
scene worthy of the gods, the glorious contention be- 
tween you and the best of Princes deserves a circle ' 
equally attentive and respectable: I think I already I 
■ee other gods rising from the earth to behold it. 

But this language is too mild for the occasion. The 
King is determined that our abilities shall not be lost 
to society. The perpetration and description of new 
crimes will find employment for us both. My Lord, 
if the persons who have been loudest in their profes- 
sions of patriotism, had done their duty to the public 
with the same zeal and perseverance that 1 did, I will 
not assert that government would have recovered it« 
dijjBity, but at least our gracious Icovereign ins?t hare 



Jt^NIUS. 217 

spared his subjects this la?t insult:* which, if tliere be 
any feeling left among iis, they will renent more than 
ever the real injiiri.?s they received fiom every mea- 
sure of your Grace's administration. In vain would 
he have looked round hina for another character so 
con^utnmate as yours. Lord Manyfield shrinks irom 
;his principles: his ideas of government, perhaps, go 
iarther than your own, but his heart disgraces the 
tJicory ol his understanding Charles Fox is yet in 
blossom ; and as for ?*Ir. Wedderburne, there issorne- 
ikbitjg about him which even treachery cannot trust. 
-For "the prt^sent, therefore, the best of Princes must 
have contented himself with Lord Sandwich. You 
would Jong since have received your final dismission 
land reward, and I, my Lord, who do not esteem you 
^he more for the high office you posse??, would wil- 
lilingly have followed you to your retirement. There 
is surely something singularly benevolent in the cha- 
tracte." of our Sovereign From the monieni he ascended 
-the throne, there is no crime of whic!i human nafiue 
.is capable (and I call upon the Recordprto witness it) 
jthat has not appeared venial in his sight. Witli any 
.fether Prince, the shameful desertion of him in the 
iHiidst of that distress which you alonp had created, 
,ip tlie very crisis of danger, when he fancied lie saw 
the throne surrounded by men of virtue and abilities, 
.^ould have outweighed the memory of your former 
jservices. But his Majesty is full of justice, and under- 
[?tanus t!ie doctrine of compensations. He rememberp, 
•wit!) gratitude, liow soon you had accommodated your 
[tnorals to the necessity of his service; how cheerfully 
you had abandoned the engagements of privnte friend- 
ship, and renounced the most solemn professions to the 
i^ublic. _ The sacrifice of Lord Chatham was not lost 
ipon him Even the cowardice and perfidy of de- 
lerting him may have done you no disservice in his 
meem. The instance was painful, but the principle 
FDiight please. 

Vou did n U neglect the magistrate, while you flat- 
tered the man. Theexpulsion of Mr, Wilkes, pre- 
determined in the c,>biuet; the power ofdeprivins the 
subject of his birtliright, attributed to a resoUitiun of 
iine branch of the legislature; the constitution impu- 

' Tht Ih^t mas laieli/ appointed Lord Priv^ Seal. 



218 JUNIUS. 

(Jently invaded by the House of Commons ; the right 
of defending it treacherously renounced by the FJouse 
of Lords; the^e are the strokes, my Lord, which, in 
tiie present reign, recommend to ofBce and constitute 
a Minister. They tvonld have determined your So- 
vereign's judgment, if they had made no impression 
upon his heart. We n«ed not look for any other spe- 
cies of merit to account for his taking the earliest op- 
portunity to recall you to his councils. But you have 
other merit in abundance. Mr. Hine, the Duke of 
Portland, and Mr. Yorke:— Breach of trust, robbery, 
and murder. You would think it a compliment to 
your gallantry, if 1 added rape to the catalogue; but 
the style of your amours secures you from resistance. 
I know how well these several charnes have been de^ 
fciided. In the first instance, the Breach of trust is 
supposed to have been its own reward. Mr. Brad- 
shaw aPiiTiis, upon his honotir, (and so may the gift of 
smiliug uf-ver depart from him !) that you reserved no 
part of Mr. Hine's purchase-money for your own u=e, 
but th^t every shilling of it was scrupulously paid to 
Governor Burgoyne. Make liastc, my Lord ; another 
patent, applied in time, may keep the Oaks* in the 
family. If not, Burnham-Wood, I fear, must come to 
the Macaroni. 

The Duke of Portland was in life your earliest 
friend. In defence of his property, he had nothing to 
plead but equity against Sir James Lowther, and 
prescription against tt)e Crown. You felt for your 
friend : but the law mxist take its course. Posterity 
will scarce believe that Lord Bute's son-in-law had 
barely interest enough at the treasury to get his 
grant completed before the general election.! 

Enough has been said of that detestable transaction 
which ended in the death of Mr. Yorke. I cannot 
speak of it without horror and compassion. To ex- 
cuse yourself, you i)ublicly impeach your accomplice; 
and to his mind, perhaps, the accusation may be flat- 

* A sitpcrbviUa of Colond Burgoyne, about tkis time adver- 
Ustdfor sale. 

t It Tvill appear, b,y a sttbsequeni letter, that the Duke''s pre- 
tifdalioH proved fatal to the grant. It looks like the hvrry and 
confusion (fayovHg highwayman, who takes a fen) shillings, but 
leaves the purse and rmtch behind him, ...And yel the Dieke nrff* 
mf'4»JfeMu. 



JUNIUS. 21« 

fff. But in murder you are both principals. It was 
ace a question of emulation ; and, if the event had 
ot disappointed the immediate schemes of the closet, 

might still have been a hopeful subject of jest and 
lenifiient between you,^ 

Tliis letter, my Lord, is only a preface to my future 
jrrespondence. The remainder of the summer shall- 
» dedicated to your amusement. I mean now and 
ten to relieve the severity of your morning studies, 
id to prepare you for the business of the day. With- 
jt pretending to more than Mr. Bradsha w's sincerity, 
,->u may rely upon my attachment as long as you a.e 

office. 

Will your Grace forgive me, if I venture to express 
srae anxiety for a man whom I kuow you do not 
vep My Lord Weymouth has cowardice to plead, 
lid a desertion of a later date than your own. You 
low the privy-seal was intended for him: and if you 
msidtr the dignity of the post he deserted, you will 
»rdly think it decent to quarter him on Mr. Rigby. 
et he must have bread, my Lord; or, rather, he 
,U8t have wine. If you deny him the cup, there will 
,} no keepino: him within the pale of the Ministry, 

JUNIUS. 



LETTER L. 

, To his Grace the Duke of Grafton. 

jjioBD, July 9, 177t. 

[The influence of your Grace's fortune still seems to 
;;-esJde over the treasury. The genius of Mr. Biad- 

aw inspires Mr. Robinson.* How remarkable it is 
;ind I speak of it not as a matter of reproach, but as 

niething peculiar to your character) that you have 
rveryet formed a friendship, which has not been fatal 

. the object of it; nor adopted a cause, to which, one 
<fty or other, you have not done mischief! Your at- 

chmeut is infamy while it lasts; and, which ever 

' * By an intercepted letter from the Secretary of the Treasury ^ 
^ippeared, that the friends of government were to be very 
'•ftT.e in sirfpport hg (he mtntsterial nominsiim ef sheriff'. 



220 JUNIUS. 

way it turn, leaves ruin and di^igrare hcliind rt. 
deluded girl who yields to such a proflignte, even w 
he is constant, forfeits her reputation as well as 
innocence, and finds herself abandoned at last to 
sery and t^harae. Thus it happened with the be. 
Princes. Poor Dingley, too I 1 protest 1 hnrdly k 
which of them we ought most to lament ; thennhf 
man who sinks under the sense of his dishonour, or 
who survives it. Characters so finished are pi: 
beyond the reach of panegyric. Death has Qxe( 
se.il upon Dingley; and you, my Lord, have set ; 
mark upon the other. 

The only letter I ever addressed to the King w 
nakindly received, that I believe 1 shall never pres 
to trouble his Majesty in that way again. But 
f^eai for his service is superior to neglect: and 
?.tr. Wilkes' patriotism, thrives by persecution, 
iiis Majesty is much addicted to useful reading; 
if I am not ill informed, lias honoured the Fuhlic 
vertiser with particular attention. I haveendeav 
ed, therefore, and not without success (a?, perl: 
you may remember) to furnisli it with such inte 
ing and edifying intelligence, as i)robably would 
reach him through any ottier channel. The ser\ 
you have done the nation, your iul'^grity in office, 
the «ignal fidelity to your approved good master, 1 
be'-n faithfully recorded Nor have his own vir^ 
been entirely neglected. These letters, my Lord 
read in other countries, and in other languages; 
I think I may affirm, without vanity, that the .grac 
character of the best of Princes is, by this time, 
only perfectly known to his subjects, hut toler: 
well undtustood by the rest of Europe. In this res 
alune 1 have the advantage of Mr. Whitehead, 
plan, I think, is too narrow. He seems to mani 
ture hie verses for the sole use of the hero who is 
posed to be the subject of them, and, that his me^ 
may not be exported in foreign bottoms, sets all tf 
latinn at defiance. 

Your Grace's re--ppointmpnt to a eeat in the c 
net was announced to the pnlilic by the orainou 
turn of Lord Bute to this country. When that nos 
planet approaches England, he never fails to b 
plague and pestilence along with him. The I 
alreiidy feels the malignant t?frect ofyour inflvi! 



JUNItrs. 2Zt 

jrer hl^ couBcils. Your former admlQistration made 
*'■• oVi??^?" alderman of London, and representa- 
ve of Middlesex Your next appearance in office is 
larkeu wiUi his election to the shrievalty. In what- 
rer measure yon are concerned, you are not only 
isappointed of .success, but alwavs contrive to make 
le government of the best of Princes contemptiblf in 
: |S own eyes, a nd ridiculous to the whole irorld. Ma- 
' ing all due allowance for the effect of the Minister's 
^clared mterposition, Mr. Robinson's activity, and 
■Ir. Home's new zeal in support of administration, 

still want the genius of the Duke of Grafton, to 
;count for committing the whole interest of movem- 
ent in the city to the conduct of Mr. Harley. I 
ul not bear hard upon your faithful friend and em- 
fiary, Mr. Touchet; for I know the difficulties of his 
tuation, and that a few lottery ticket.-; are of use to 
.6 economy. There is a proverb concernins persons 

1 the predicament of this gentleman, which, However, 
.nnot be strictly applied to him, They commence 
upes, and fmuh knaves.- Now, Mr. Touchet's cha- 
icter IS unitorm. 1 am convinced tliat his sentiments 
ever depended upoa his circumstances: and that, iii 
;ie most prosperous slate of his fort.me, he was al ways 
hevery man he is at present. But was there no other 
erson of rank and consequence in the city, whom £0- 
einmenl could confide in, but a notorious J-'cobltef 
tid you .mneine that the wholebody of dissenters, that 
le whole Wtuft- interest of London, would attend at 
Irnh^^o' ?i'^ ""^"^'^ to the directi<.ns of a notorious 
icob.te ?\\ as there no \V hig mngi.tr.te in the city, 
» ^vhom the servants of George the Third co.ild in- 
ust the management of a business so very interestino- 
» their Master as the election of sheriffs P [■: thert- no 

i )om at St James's but for Scotchmen and Jacobites r* 
? Hi' ^,^«.»«t "lean to question the sincerity of 
n;?fl!^^ ' attachment to his Majesty's governmr-nt. 
nee the commencement of the present reipn ' havo 
en stdl greater contradictions reconciled The nrin- 

ZZ.nil '•^P''f'*'»ted. Their ideas of divine 
^JZ *? "?:'.c\.inncxed to the person or f,mi- 
as to the political character of the Sovereign 
|d here ever been an hanest man among the Stu^ 
ts, his Majesty's present friends would have been 



222 ^JUNIUS, 

Wh jgs upon principle. But the convef sion of the best 

of Piincps has re«lt>ved their scrupies. They have 
forgiven him the sins of liia Manoveri;in aoepjtorr', asul 
acknowledijed the hand of Providence in the defcent 
of the Crown upon the head of a tnie Stu-at. In you, 
my Lord, thev also behold, with a kind of predilection 
which borders upon loyalty, the natural representative 
of that iilugtrious family. The mode of your desceat 
from Charles the Second-is only a l)ar to your preten- 
sions to the Ciovvn, and no way interrupts the regula 
rityofyour succession to ail the virtues of tiie Stuarts. 

Tile unforttuiale success of the Reverend Mr. Home's 
endeavours in support of tiie ministerial nomination 
of sheriffs, will, 1 fear, obstruct his preferment. Per- 
jihit me to recommend him to your Grace's protec- 
tion. You will fijid him copiously gifted with those] 
qualities of th*^ lieart wiiich usually di;'cct you^ in th^i 
^lioice of your frieniifcliips. He too was Mr. Wilkes'j 
iVieiid, and as incapai)le as you are of the liberal re- 
sentment of a gentleman. No, myLoril; it was the 
soiitiry, vindictive malice of a monk, brooding over 
iheinlirmilies of kis friend, tuitil he thoiiaht they 
quickened into public life, and feapting wit!) a ran- 
corous rapture u. on the sordid catal<>;;i!e of his dis* 
iresses. Now let him jio back to his cloister. The 
church is a proj.er retreat for him. In his priuciplei 
he is already a bishop. 

The meutiou of this man has moved me from myi 
natural moderation. Let mi- return to your Grace^ 
You are tiie pillow upon which I am determined to 
rest all my rescnlmmts. VVh-it idea can the be«t of 
Sovereigns form t) Idmsclfof liis own goverruneiit; 
Jii what repute can he conceive t'nat he stands with 
the people, when he ?ees, beyond the po^si'^'ity of a 
doubt, that, whatever be the office, the suspicion o! 
■ ills favour is f,>tal to the candidate; and that, whei 
-the party he wi-^he.? wejl to ha? the fviirest prosper! 
•irtrsuccess, if his royal inclinalion should unfortunatoJ 
'ly be discovered, it drops like an acid, and turns tli« 
election ? * -i J 

This event, amon» others, m^y perhaps, contrilMill 
to open his M.ijesty's eyes to his real honour and \r 
'Urest. In^'pitcof all your Grace's inncntiity, he m;i' 
at last, perceive the iuconveuicace of selecting, wi 

a 



J€NIUS. 233 

such a curious felicity, every villain In the nation to 
fill the v^irious departments of his government. Yet 
I sliould be sorry to confine him ia the choice «'ither 
of his iootmen or his triendg. J Ul^iUS. 



LETTER LI. 

From the Reverend Mr. Home to Junius. 

SIR, July 13, 1771. 

FARce, Comedy^ and Tragedy — JVilkes, Foot, a ad 
Junius — united at the same time against 0!»e poor 
parson, are fearful odds. The two former are only 
labouring in their vocation, and may fqiialiy plead, 
in excuse, tiiat their aim is a livelihood. 1 ndmit the 
plea for the second: his is an honest calling, and my 
clothes were lawful game; but 1 cannot so readily 
approve Mr. Wilkes, or commend him for racking pa- 
triotism a trade, and a fraudulent trade. But what 
shall I say to Junius? tl>e grave, the solemn^ the di 
dactic! Ridicule, indeed, has been ridiculously called 
the test of truth ; but surely, to confess that you li)se 
yournatural moderation when mention is made of the 
man, does not promise much truth or justice when 
you speak of him yourself. 

Vou charge me with " a new zeal in support 
ministration," and with "endeavours in support 
the ministerial nomination of sheiifFs." The reputa- 
tion which your t.ilents have deservedly gained to the 
signature of Junius, draws from me a renly which I 
. disdained toglveto the anonymous lies of Mr.'.Vilkei?. 
Yon m-ike frequent use of the \^Qr(i gentleman; 1 only 
' call myself a man, and de.»ire no other distinction. If 
; you are either, you are hound to make good your 
(charffes, or to confess that yuu have done aie a hasty 
'< iujustlce upon no authority. 

J put the matter fairly to issue. I <»ay^ th.it, so far 

^Trom any "new zeal in support of administration," 

i 1 am possessed with the utmost abhorrence of their 

|i wioasnres; and that I have ever shown myself, and 

am filill ready, in any rational manner, to lay down 

all I have — my life, iu oppoEttiou to those mcasttfes. 



•t of ad- . J 
iport of (j 
reputa- ' 



224 JUNIUS. 

I say that I have not, and never have had, any oont-' 
munication or connexion of any kind, directly or in- 
directly, with any courtier, or ministerial man, or any 
of their adherents; that! never have received, or so- 
licited, or expected, or desired, or do now hope for, 
any reward of any sort, from any party or set of men 
in administration, or opposition. I say,tiiat I never 
used any "endeavours m support of the ministerial 
nomination of sheriffs :" that 1 did not solicit any one 
liveryman for his vote for any one of ttie candidates, 
nor employ any other person to solicit; and that I 
did not write one single line or word in favour of 
Messrs. Plumbe and Kirk man, whom I understand to 
have been supported by the Ministry. 

You are bound to refute what 1 here advance, or to 
lose your credit for veracity. You must produce facts : 
surmise and general abuse, in however elegant lan- 
guage, ought not to pass for proofs. You have every 
advantage, and I have every disadvantage; yo;- are 
unknown ; 1 give my name. All parties, both in and 
oiit of administration, have their reasons (whicii I 
shall relate hereafter) for uniting in their wishes 
against me; and the popular prejudice is as strongly 
in your favour as it is violent again-t the Parson. 

Singular as ray present Rituation is, it is neither 
painful, nor was It unforeseen. He is not i!t for pub- 
lic business, who does not, even at his entrance, pre- 
pare his mind for such an event. Health, fortune, 
tranquillity, and private connexions, I have sacrificed 
upon the altar of the public; and tbe only return I 
received, because 1 will not concur to dupe and mis- 
lead a senseless multitude, is barely that they have 
not yettorn me in pieces. That this has been the only 
return is my pride, and a source of more real eatis- 
faction than honours or prosperity. I can practise, 
before I am old, the lessons I learned in my youth ; 
Bor shall I forget the words of ray ancient Monitor. 

" 'Tis the last key-stone 
»« That makes the arch ; the rest that there -were put, 
" Are nothing till that comes to bind and shut; 
'• Then stands it a triumphal mark .' Then men 
" Observe the strecgth, tbe height, tbe why aad when 



JT7MUS. S 

•• It was erected ; and still, walkin? und^jis 

*' Meet some new matter to look up and wonder '.■'' 

I am. Sir, your humble Servant, 

JOHN KORNE, 



LETTER Lir. 

To the Reverend Mr. Home. 

iiR, Jdi,y24, 1771. 

I CANNOT descend to an altercation with you in the 
newspapers: but since I have attacked jpour charac- 
ter, and yr>n comjilain of injustice, I think yon have 
some right to an explanation You defy me to prove, - 
that yon ever solicited a vote, or wrote a word in sup- 
port of ine ministeriril aldermen. Sir, I did never 
suspect you of such grojis folly. It would have been 
impossible for Mr. Home to have solicited votes, and 
very diflScult to have written in the newspaper^ in 
def' nee o( that cause, without being detected, and 
brought to shame, iVeither do f pretend to any in- 
telligence concerning you, or to know more of your 
conduct than you yourself have thought proper to 
communicate to tlije public. It is from your own let- 
ters, I conclude, that you have sold yourself to the 
Ministry; or, if that charge be too severe, and sup- 
posing it possible to be deceived by appearances so 
ivery strongly against you, what are your friends to 
say io your defence p Must they not confess, tliat, to 
gratify your personal hatred of Mr. WiLkes, you sa- 
erificed, as far as depended on your interest and abili- 
ties, the cause of the country;' I can make allowance 
for the violence of the passions) ; and if ever I should 
jbe convinced that you had no motive biit to destroy 
Wilkes, I shall then be ready to do justice to your 
character, and to declare to the world, that I despise 
you somewhat less than I do at present. But, as 3 
liublic uKin, I must for ever coud'-^mn you. You can- 
not but know^ (uay, you dare not pretend to l)e igno- 
rant) that the highest gratifications of which the most 
detestable ** ia this nation is capable, would have 
been th^defeat of Wilkes. I know that mao mueh 



220 JUNIUS. 

better than any of you. Natnr*^ intpsded him only 
for a £00(1 hmnonred fool. A systematica! pdiicatwn, 
Tvith Ions practice, has mad.' him a consnmmate hy- 
pocrite. Yet this man, to sav nothing of his worthy 
Mini'ter?, you have mof^t assiduon?ly J^iboured to 
grntify To exclude- Wilkes, it ivas not necessary 
vou should solicit voles for his opponents. W e in- 
Gline the balance as effecttially by les^enin? the 
weizht in one pcale, ae by incrcasmf^jt in the other 
The mode of your attack upon U rke? (ihor^h I 
am far from thinking meanly of your ah.hliesj con- 
vinces me that you either want judgment extremely, 
or that you are blinded by your resentmput. You 
oneht to have foreseen that the charges you urged 
atrain":! Wilkes could never do him any mi.-chief. Af- 
ter all, when we expected discoveries hi?h y interest- 
in^r to the community, what a nitiful d*^tai. did il end 
inT-90me old clotl.es-a Welch rpney-a t rench 
footman-aud a hamper of claret. Indeed Mr Horne, 
the public should and will forgive him his cl irft^ind his 
footman, and even the ambition of makniz his brother 
chamberlain of Loudon, as long as he stand.s forth 
against a Ministry and Parliament who are doinj 
every thin?; they can to enslave th^ comitry, and as 
lon/as he Is a thorn in the Kincr'sMde lou wil not 
suspect me of settinff Wilkes upfor a perfect chaiactti. 
The question to the public is, whele shall we fiu a 
man who, with p-.rer principles, will go the len-ths, 
aud run the hazards, that he has done? The sea>on 
calls for such a man, and he ought to be supported. 
What would have been the triumph of that ooious hy- 
poerite and his minions, if Wilkes had been d^fea^^rf • 
It was not your fault, Reverend Sir, t'lat he did not 
enjoy it completely. But now I promisa you, you have 
«o little power to do mischief, that I much question 
whether the Ministry will adhere to t'ae promises 
thev have made vou. It will be in vaio to say that I 
araa partisan of Mr. Wilkes, or personally your ene- 
my. You will convince no man, for you do not be- 
lieve it yourself. Yet I confess 1 am a little offended 
at the low rate at which you seem to value- my ua- 
aerstanding. I beg, Mr,- Home, you will i^^^^ 
believe that I measure the integrity of men »>/ the»r 
conduct, not b^ their professions, tea«b tales mar 



JUiNIUS. 227 

entertain Mr. Oliver, or foor grandmother j hut, 
tni-t 1110, they are tlirown away npon Junius. 

You say yon are a man. Was it generous, was it 
manly, repeatedly to introduce into a newspaper, the 
name of a young lady, with wliom yon must hereto- 
fore have lived on terms of politenens and good hu- 
mour p But I liave done with you In my opinion 
roup creditis irrecoverably ruined. Tvir. Townshend, 
i think', is nearly in the same predicament. Poor 
Oliver has been shamefully duped by you. You have 
made him sacrifice all the honour he got by his irn- 
j)risonment. As for Mr. !Sawi)ridgo, whose charycter 
1 really respect, I am astonished he does not ste 
tlirough your duplicity. Never was so hz^e a d^'.^ign 
po poorly conducted. This* letter, you see, is not 
intended for the public; but, if you think it v.ill do 
.vou any service, you arc at liberty to nu!>lisb it. 



LETTER LIII. 

F^om the Rev. Mi: Home to Jiiv.ius. 

W£, July 31, 1771. 

Yor have di'^appointee^ me. When I told yon that 
surmise and general abuse, in however elegant Ian - 
g'uag;e, ouclit not to pasafor proofs, I evidently hinttd 
at the reply which I expected : but you have dropped 
your nsi'.al elegance, and seem williiie; to try what 
.will be the effect of surmise and general abuse in very 
coarse language. Your answer to my last letter 
1 which, I hope, was cool, and tpuiperate, andmode:^t) 
las convinced me, that my idea of a man is mucli su- 
jerior to yours of a genflemaji. Of your former lel- 
itbrs, 1 have always said, Matcritm ivperabut opus : I 
do not think so of the present; the principles aro 
more detestable than the expressions are mean and 
illiberal. I am contented that all those who adopt 
ihe one, thould forever load me with the other. 

* Tkis letter was transmitted privately by the prmter to Mr. 
Jorne, nt Junitu^s requcf t. Mr. Ihmt returned it to the pria ,, 
'.i\fvUh dlrcctiOTM to p^Hsh it. 



2^ J.l?«HiJS. 

I appeal to the common sense of the public, to \rhkb. ' 
1 have ever directed myself; I believe they have it; 
though I am sometimes half inclined to suspect that 
Mr. Wilkes has formed a tiiier judgment of mankind 
than I have. However, of this 1 am sure, that there 
h nothing else uppn which to placea steady reliance. 
Trick and low cunning, and addressing their prejur 
dices and passions, ma}' be the fittest means to carry 
^particular point; if they have not common sense, 
there is no pi o.^p^ct of gaining for them any real per- 
manent good. The same pai^sions which have been 
artfully used by an hon^^t man for tlieir advantage, 
inay be more artfully employed b}'^ a dishonest mau 
for their destruction. I desire them to apply their 
common sense to this letter of Jiuiius, not for my sake, 
^ut their own; it concerns them most neaiiy ; for the 
principles it contains lead to disgrace and ruin, and 
•are inconsistent with every notion of «ivil society. 

The charges which Junius has brought against me, 
>ire made ridiculous by his own inconsistency and 
fc-lf-contradiction. He charges me positively with 
"' a new zeal in support of administration ;" and 
with " endeavours in support of the ministerial nomi- 
nation of sheriffs." And he assigns two inconsistent 
motives for my conduct ; either that I have " sold my- 
,self to the Ministry ;" or am instigated " by the soli- 
tary vindictive malice of a monk;" either that I am 
influenced by a sordid desire of gain, or am hurried 
on by " personal hatred and blinded by resentment." 
hi his letter to the Duke of Grafton, he supposes me 
actuated by both ; in his letter to me, he at fir?t 
doubts which of the two, whether interest or revenge, 
is my motive. However, at last, he determines for 
the former, and again positively asserts, "that the 
ministry have made me promises ;" yet he produces 
no instance of corruption, nor pretends to have any 
intelligence of a ministerial connexion He mentions 
no cause of personal hatred to Mr. Wilkes, nor any 
reason for my resentment or revenge; nor has Mr. 
Vv'ilkes himself ever hinted any, though repeatedly 
pressed. When Junius is called upon to justify his 
accusation, he answers, " He cannot descend to an 
altercation witli me in the newspapers." Jnnlu.s, who 
exists only in the newspapers, who acknowledges lie 
'Las "attacked my character" there, and thinks '' I 
have some rig;ht to an e.vplac5tioDj" yet this Junitw 



JUNIUS. 389 

"ennnot descend to an altercation in the newspapers!" 
And because he cannct descend to an allercation 
with me in the newspHpeiP, hfesendf^a letter of abns(j, 
by tlie printer, which he finishes witli telling me " I 
am at liberty to publish i^" This, to be sure, i? a 
most excellent method to avoid an altercation in the 
newspapers ! 

The proofs of his popRive charges are as extraordi- 
nary. '♦ He does not pretend to any intollijience con- 
eertiingme, or to know more of my conduct than I my- 
self havethoiiglit proper to communicate to the public." 
He does not suppeci me of such i^ross folly as to have 
solicited vote*, or to have written anonymously in 
tlie newspapers; becaui^e it is imposs^ible to do either 
withotit being detected and bronglit to shame. Juni- 
us says this! who yet iaingjnes that he has himself 
written two years under that aignatiiro (and more 
under others) without beiny; detected! his warmest 
adm rers will not hereafter nfld^niikout heivg brougkt 
to shame., hv.i, though lie did never suspect ma of such 
gros-i foJfy as to run the haz.xrd of beinj; detected, and 
Dioiight to shame, by anonymous writing, he insists 
that 1 have l;eeu gjnilty of a much g:roK3e~r folly, of in- 
cnrri:;^!; the certainty of shame and detection, by 
writings signed with my>name! Ihit thi^* is a small 
flight for the towerina: Jmuns: '* He Is far from think* 
i ng meanly of my abilities," l!)oug:h " he is convinced 
that I want judgment extremely;" and can "really 
respect Mr Saw brid'^e's character," thonoh he de- 
clares him* to be so poor a creature, as not to " see 

* / beg leave to introduce Mr. Horne to the characfn qflhr 

.Double Dealer. 1 thought t.hcy had been belter acquninled. 

I/' Another veri/ wron^ objeclh'.a has been made by some, nha 

1 have not taken leisure to dldniguisk the characters. The hern 

Xof'the play {m an ins JSkUJ'ont) is a (TuII and made a fool and 

Icheatcd. Is ever'/ man a gull and a fool that is deceived? Ai 

yitknt rale, Iain afraid, the two chusrs of men nnti be reduced tj 

'»»w, and the knaves themselves be at a loss iojustifjj their title. 

But y an open, hoiiest- keartrd 7nan,wko has aa entire covji- 

dcnce in one, whom, he takes to be hitfriind, andnvkom, to con- 

Jirm him in his opinion, in all appearance, and upon scvtrul 

trials, has been so, iffiif man be deceived by the treachery (,f 

the other, must he cf necessity commence fool immedialrl,!/, onhf 

hf cause the other has proved a villain J^^ Yes, saj,'S ParsqTi 

Flvr; e. No, says Coni^reve : and he, I ildnk, is iilUjrv^Svi ta 

fiai'p known to7nethin?c/ kumitnnntur". 

k3 



230 JUNIUS. 

through the baspst dc'^ign, conducted in the poore!=t 
manner!" And this most base design is conducted 
in the poorest manner by a man whom he does not 
suspect of g;ross folly, and of whose abilities he is far 
from thinking meanly ! 

_ Should we ask Junius to reconcile these contradic- 
tions, and explain this nonsense, the answer is ready: 
"He cannot descend to an altercation in the news- 
papers." He feels no reluctance to attack the cha- 
racter of any man ; the throne is not too high, nor 
the cottage too low : his mighty malice can grasp both 
extremes. He hints not his accusations as opinion, 
conjecture, or inference, but delivers them as iiositive 
assertions. Do the accused complain of injustice P He 
acknowledges they have some sort of right to an ex- 
slanationj but if they ask for proofs and facts, he 
begs to be excused; and though he is no where else 
'.o be encountered, " he cannot descend to an alterca- 
tion in the newspapers.'' 

And this, perhaps, Junius may think " the liberal 
■Tiscntmcnt of a gantUman ;'''* this skulking assassina- 
tion he may call courage. In all things, as in this, [ 
hope we differ. 

'-' I thought that fortitude had been a mean, 
'* 'Twixt fear and rashness; not a lust obscen<^ 
* ' Or appetite of offending: : hut a skill 
** -And :)ice discernment bet-weea good and ill. 
-' Her ends arc honesty and public good 
-" And without these she is not undeistcod " 

Of two things, however, he has condescended to gi\fe 
proof. He ve\y properly produces a younj; lady to 
prove that I am not a man ; and a good old nomariy 
my gj-andmother, to prove Mr. Oliver a fool. Poor 
©Id soul I she read her Bible far otherwise than Juni- 
us ! She often found there that the sins of the fathers 
had been visited on the cliildren; and therefore wa's 
cautious that herself, and her immediate descendants, 
should leave no reproach on her posterity : and they 
left none. How little could she foresee this reverse 
of Junius, who visits my political sins upon my grand- 
mother ! 1 do not charge this to the score of malice 
in him J it proceeded entirely from his propensity to 
'bJucderj that wljilst he was reproa<;hiDg raQ (or i.ti* 



JUNIUS. 231 

kodiiciiig, in tlie most harmless manner, the name ot 
one temale, ha might hknself, at the same instant, in- 
troduce two. 

I am represented, alternately, as it suits Junius's 
rur()Osc, imder the opposite characters of a gloom-j 
monk, and a man of politeness and good-humour. I 
am called "a solitary inottk,'''' in order to confiim tlie 
nolioji given ji'me, in Mr. Wilkes's anonymous para- 
graphs, that 1 never laiifj.h. And the terms of polite- 
ness and good-humonr, on which I am said to have 
lived heretofore with the young lady, are intended to 
confirm other paragraphs of Mr. VV'ilkes, in whicu he 
is supposed to have offended me by refusing his daugh- 
ter. Ridiculous ! Vet I cannot desiy but that Junius 
has proved me .unmanly and unsenerous, as clearly 
as he has .shown me corrupt and vindictive; and | 
\viii tell liim more: I have paid the present Ministry 
as inany viits and compliments as ever I paid to the 
young lady; and sliall all my life treat them with 
the same politeness and good humour. 

But Junius "begs me to believe, that he measures 
the integrity of men by their conduct, not by their 
professions." Sure this Junius must imagine his read- 
ers as void of understanding as he is of modesty! 
W her,- shall we find the standard of his integrity p 
By what are we to measure the conduct of this lurk- 
ing assassin p And lie says tlu^ to me, whose conduct, 
■wherever I could personally appear, has been as di- 
rect, and open, and public, as my words. 1 have not, 
like him, concealed myself in my chamber, to shoot 
my arrows out of the window; nor contented myself 
to view the battle from afar ; but publicly mixed in 
the engagement, and shared the danger. To whom 
nave I, like him, refused my name, upon complaint of 
Injury p What printer liave I desired to conceal map 
la the infinite variety of business in which 1 have 
|een concerned, where it is not so easy to be faultless, 
*'bich of my actions can he arraign P To what danger 
has any man been exposed, which I have not faced p 
{lyormation, action, imprisonment, or death ? What 
abour have 1 refused;' Wlmt expense have I declin- 
^'dp What pleasure have I not renounced p But Ju- 
Auis, to wl)om no conduct belon:;?, " measures th6. 
;aiegrity of men by their conduct, not by their pro- 
essions:" himself, aH tl<e while, being ootliins but 



232 JUNIUS. 

profession*, and those too anonymous. The politieal 
jjnorance, or wilful falsehood, of this decHaimpr is ex- 
treme. His own former letters justify both my con- 
duct and those whom his last letter abuses: for the 
ptiWic measures which Jtmius has been all afong; da- 
fending, were ottrs whom he attacks; and the uniforBj 
opposer of those measures has been Mr. Wilkes, whose 
bad actions and intentions he eadpavours to screen. 

Let Junius now, if he pleases, chan<!;e hi? abuse, and 
quitting his loose hold of interesttind revenge, accuse 
me of vanity, and call tliis defence boHstinc. I ow'n 
I have pride to see statue? decreed, and the highest 
honours conferred, for measures and action; which all 
ftien have approved j whilst those who counselled and 
caused them are execrated and insiiltrd. Ttie dark- 
ness in which Junius tiiinks himself shrouded, has not 
concealed him ; tior tiie artifice of only attacking un- 
der thai si^nnlnrc those he would pull down, wiliest he 
■/■ecommends ly other rcays those he would have promo- 
ted, disguised tVom me whose partisan he is. When 
iiord Ch'itham can forcive the awkard sitnation in 
which, for the sake of the public he was designedly 
placed by the thanks to him from the city; and when 
Wilkes's name ceases to be necessiry to Lord Rock- 
ingham, to kepp up a clamour agiiust the persons of 
The ministry, without obliging the diffprent fictions, 
aow in oj)position, to bind themselves beror«*hand to 
some certain points, and to stipulate some precise ad- 
vantages to the public; then, and not till then, m^y 
those whom he now abuses expect the approbation of 
Junius. The approbation of the public for our fiith- 
tiil attention to their interest, by endeavours for those 
stipulations, which have made us as obnoxious to the 
factious in opposition as to those in adminif^tration, Is 
not, perhaps, to be expected till some years hence; 
vhen the public will look back, and see how sliame- 
t'ully they have been deluded, and hy what arts they 
were made to lose tlie golden opportunity of prevent- 
ing what they will surely experience— a change of 
Ministers, without a material change of measure?, 
and without any security for a tottering constitution. 
But what caresJunius for the security of the consti- 
tution ? fie has now unfolded to us his diabolical 
principles. As a public man he must ever condemn 
:4«y ©eaiwrc is-hich jaay trisd a-cciden tally to grsjtify 



JUNIUS. S8S 

tiie Sovereljo; ^^^ Mr. Wilkes is to be^ supported 
and assisted in all hid attempts (no matter how ridicu- 
lous and mischievous his projects) as lon^ns he conti' 
nues to be a thorn in tht King^s side ! The cause of 
the country, it ^'eems, in the opinion of Junius, is 
n;erpl.v to vex the King; and any rascal is to be nup- 
portrd in any rofruery, provided he caf* only thereby 
plant a thorn in the King''s side. Tliis is tiie vef;^ ex- 
tremity of faction, and the last degree of political 
wickedness. Because Lord Chatham has been ill 
fcreated hy the King, and treacherr>iisly bftrayed by 
the Duke of Grafion, ttie latter is to he "the pillow 
On whicli Junius will rest his resentment." and the 
public are to oppose the measuresof government from 
mere motives of personal enmity to the Sovereign ! 
These are the avowed princip es of the man who, in 
the same letter, says, " if evt-r heshould boconviac<-d 
that I had no motive but to destroy Wilkes, he shall 
then be ready to do justice to my character, and to 
declare to the world, that he despises me somewhat 
less than lie does at present !" Had I ever acted from 
personal afiRction or enmity to Mr. Wiikes, I sliould 
jtistly be despised: but what does he deserve whose 
avowed motive is personal enmity to the Sovereigri f 
The contem[)t which I should otherwise feel for the 
absurdity and glaring inconsistency of Junius, is here 
swallowed up in my abhorrence of his principles. 
The right divine and sacredness of kings is to me a 
penseless j jrgon. It wa"! thought a daring expressioa 
i ©f Oliver Cromwell, in the time of Charles the First, 
that ifhe found himself placed opposite to the King in 
battle, he would discharge tiis piece into his bosom as 
soon as into any other man's. I go fartlier: had I 
; lived in those days, 1 would not have waited for 
chance to give me an opportunity of doing my duty; 
J would have sought him through the ranks, and, 
without the least personsl enmitj', have discharged 
my piece into bis bosom rather than into any other 
man's. The King, whose actions justify rebellion to 
. his government, deserves death from the hand of eve- 
: ry subject. And should such a time arrive, I thall be 
; as free to act as to say ; but, till then, my attachment 
.1 to the person and family of the Sovereign shall ever 
1 ' he found more zealous and sincere than that of his 
I ' fialterers. 1 would offend the Sovereign with as much 



234 JUNIUS. 

reluctance as the parent: but if the happiness arid sd* 
curity of llie whole family made it necessary, so far, 
and no farther, I would offend him without remorse. ■: 

But let us consider a little whither these princioles- 
of Junius would lead us Should Mr. Wilkes once 
more commission Mr Thomas VValpole to procurp for 
him a pension «*f on?i thousand pounds, upon the Irish 
establishment, for thirty years, he must be supported 
in the demand by the public, because it would mortify 
the King ! 

Should he wish to nee Lord Rockingham and liis 
friends once more in administi atioo unclo2fii;<'d by any 
stipulations for the people, that he might again enjoy- 
a pension of one tliousand and forty pounds a year, 
viz. from the first Lord of the Treasury, 5001. irr»n 
the Lords of tlie Treasury, 601. eacii : from the Lords 
of Trade, AOl. each, &:c. the public must give up their 
attention to points of national benefit, and assist Mr. 
Wilkes in his attempt, because it would mortify the 
Kin? ! 

Should he demand the government of Canada, or 
of Jamaica, or the embassy to Constantinople, and ia 
case of refusal threaten to write them down, as he had- 
before served another administration, in a year and a 
lialf, he must be supported in his pretensions, and op- 
held in his insolence, because it would mortify the 
King ! 

Junius may choose to suppose that these things' 
cannot happen ! But, that they have happened, not-* 
withstanding Mr. Wilkes's denial, 1 do aver. I 
maintain that Mr. Wilkes did commission Mr. Tho- 
mas Walpole to solicit for him a pension of one thou- 
sand pounds, on the Irish establishment, for thirty- 
years; with which, and a pardon, he (leclared he 
would be satisfied : and that, notwithstanding bia-^ 
letter to Mr. Onslow, he did accept a clandestine^ • 
precarious, and eleemosynary pension from the Rock-*- 
ingham administration, which they paid in proportioa ' 
to, and out of their salaries, and so entirely was it 
ministerial, that, as any of them went out of the mi- 
nistry, their names were scratched out of the list, and 
they contributed no longer. I say, he did solicit the 
governments, and the embassy, and threatened their 
refusal nearly in these words : " It cost me a year and 
a half to write down the last admiiristration ; should 



JUNIUS. 23i» 

1 employ as much time upon you, very few of yon 
would be in at the death." Wheu these threats drel 
not prevail, he came over to England to embarrass 
llicm by liis presence : and when he found that Lord 
Rockingham was something firmer, and more manly, 
tiian he expected, and refused to be bullied into wliat 
he could not perform, Mr. Wilkes declared that he 
could not leave England without money; and the 
Duke of Portland and Lord Rockingham purchased 
his absence with one hundred pounds a-piece, with 
■which he returned to Paris : and for the truth of what 
I here advance, I appeal to the Duke of Portland, to 
Lord Rockingham, to John Lord Cavendish, to Mr. 
Walpole, &c. I appeal to the hand writing of Mr. 
Wilkes, winch is still extant. 

Should Mr. Wilkes afterwards (failing in this wholes- 
sale trade) choose to dole out his popularity by the 
pound, and expose tiie city offices to sale to his bro- 
ther, his attorney, &;c. Junius will tell us, itisonly aa 
ambition that he has to make them chamberlain, towa 
clerk, &c. And he must not he opposed in thus rob- 
bing tlie ancient citizens of their birtht ight, because 
any defeat of Mr. Wilkes would gratify the King ! 

Should he, after consuming the whole of his own 
fortune, and that of his wife, and incurring a debt of 
twenty thousand pounds, merely by his own private 
extravagance, without a single service or exertion all 
this time for the public, whilst his estate remained : 
should he, at length, being undone, commence pa- 
triot; have the good fortune to be illegally persecu- 
ted, and in consideration of that illegality, be espoused 
by a lew gentlemen of the purest public principles-: 
should his debts, though none of them were contract- 
ed for the public, and all hw other incumbrances, be 
idi.scharged ; should lie be offered 6001. or lOOOZ. a year 
to make him independent for the future; and should 
he, after all, in.«!tead of gratitude for these services, 
insolently forbid his benefactors to bestow their own 
money upon any other object but himself, and revile 
them for setting any bounds to their supplies; Junius 
(who, any more than Lord Chatham, never contribu- 
ted one farthing to these enormous expenses) will tell 
them, that if tliey think of converting the supplies of 
Mr. Wilkes's private extravagance to the support o^ 
jJubKtrmeasnreS) they are aa great fods as my grac^i 



236 JUNIUS. 

mother; and thatMr. WJlkes ought to hold the strinffs 
©f their purse?, as long as he continues to be a thorn in 
the King'^s side! 

Upon the e principles I never have acted, and I 
never will act. In ray opinion, it is less dishonoura- 
ble to be the creature cf a court, than the tool of a 
faction. 1 will not be either. I understand the two 
great leaders of opposition to be Lord Rockingiiam 
and Lord Chatham ; under one of whose banners all 
the oppoi-ing members of both Fiouses, who desire to 
get places, enlist, f can place no confidence in either 
of tliem, or in any others, unless tliey will now engage, 
whilst they are out^ to grant certain essential advan- 
tages for the security of the public when they shall be 
in administration. These points tliey refuse to stipu- 
late, because th^y are fearful lest they should prevent 
any future overtures from the court. To force tiiera 
to tJiese stijjulations has been the uniform endeavour 
of M". JSawbridj^e, Mr. Townsh^^nd, Mr. Oliver, 6ic. 
and tkereJl'Ve tliey are abused by Junius. 1 know no 
reason, biit my zeal and industry in liie same cause, 
that should entitle me to the honour of being ranked 
by l)i.s abiise with persons of their fortune and station. 
It is a duty I owe to the memory cf the late Mr. Beck- 
ford, to say, thTt he had no ether aim than this, when 
he provided that sumptuous entertainment at the Man- 
sion HouKe, lb/ the members of both Houses in opposi- 
tion. At that time, he drew up the heads of an en- 
gagement, which he gave to me, with a request that I 
would conch it in terms so cautious and precise, as to 
leave no room for future quibble and evasion; but to 
oblige them either to fulfil the intent of the obligation, 
or to sign their own infamy, and leave it ou record ; j 
and this engagement he was determined to propose to ] 
them at the Manvion House, that either by their re- , 
fusal they might forfeit the confidence of the public, or, | 
by the engagemetit, lay a foundation for coiitidence. | 

\Vhen they were informed of the intention, Lord 
Rockingham and his friends flatly refused any en-: 
gagement; and Mr. Beckford, as flatly, swore, they 
■should then "eat none of his broth;" and ho was de- ; 
termined to put off the entertainment; but Mr. Beck- 
ford was prevailed upon by to indulge them in 

the ridiculous parade of a popular procession through 
the city, and to give thciu the foolish pJeasare of an 



iraagirtary consequence, for the real benefit only of 
the ••.ooks and purveyors. 

It was the same motive which dictated the thanlcs'^ 
of the City to Lord Chatham; which weie expressed 
to be given for his declaration in favour of skort Par- 
liaments, in order thereby to fix Lord Chatham, at; 
least, to that one constitutional remedy, witiiout 
which all others can afford no sscnrity. The embar- 
rassment, no doubt, was cruel. He had his choice, 
either to offend the Rockingham party, who declared 
formally against short Parliaments, and with the as- 
sistance of whose numbers in both Houses he must 
expect again to be a Minister, or to give up the con- 
fidence of the public, from whom, finally, all real con- 
spquence must proceed. Lord Chatham chose the 
latter; and ! will venture to say, that, by his answer 
to those tlianks, he has given up the people, without 
gaining the friendship or cordial assistance of the 
Rockingham faction, whose little politics are confined 
to the making of matches, and extending their family 
connexions; and who think tliey gain more by procu- 
ring one additional vote to their party in the House 
of Commons, than by adding their languid property, 
and feeble character, to the abilities of a Chatham, 
or the confidence of a public. 

Whatever may be the event of the present wretch- 
ed state of politics in this country, the principles of 
Junius will suit no form of government. They are 
not to be tolerated under any constitution. Personal 
enmity is a motive fit only for the devil. Whoever, 
or whatever, is Sovereign, demands the respect and 
support of the people. The union is formed for their 
■happiness, which cannot be had without mutual re- 
tpect; and he counsels maliciously who would per- 
suade either to a wanton breacli of it. When it is 
banished by either party, and when every method 
has been tried in vain to restore it, there is no reme- 
'fly but a divorce : but even then he mu?t have a hard 
and wicked heart indeed, who punishes the greatest 
j^iriminal merely for the sake of tlie ptmijhment; and 
who does not let fall a tear for every drop of blood 
lAat is shed in a public struggle, however just the 
7-TreI. ^"^ JOHN HORNE. 



238 J^]>IIUS. 

LETTER LIV. 

To the Printer qf the Public Jdvertiset. 

SIR, ACGUSTIS, 1771. 

1 OUGHT taraake an apology to the Dike of Graf- 
ton, for sufftiing any part of my attention to b*' di- 
veited from hh Grace to Mr. Home. 1 am not justi- 
fied by the Bimilarity of their dispositions. Private 
vices, however detestable, have not dignity snffici'nt 
to attr.*ct the censure of the preFS, unless they are iini- 
t-ed v\ith the povrerofdoin^ some signal mischief to the 
community. Mr. Koine's situation does not co-resi- 
potid with hi? intention.'. In my opinion (vrhich I 
know \vi;l be attributed to my usual vanity and 
presumption) his letter to me does not deserve an 
ans^Ter. But J understand tiiat the pnbiic are not 
jtatisfit'd with my gilcn^-e, that ao answer is expected 
from me; and that iff pert-i.st in refusing; to plead, it 
wjil betaken for conviction. I should he inconsistent 
"K'ith the piinciplesi profess, if 1 decliut d an appeal to 
the good sense of the people, or did not willingly sub- 
rjjit myself to tlie j .di;mcnt of my peers. 

If any course expressions iiave e€ca:ied me, lam 
ready toaa:ree that they are ualit for Junius" to make 
use of; but I see no reason to admit that they have 
been improperly applied. 

Mr. Home, it seems, is unable to comprehend how 
an extreme wantofconductand discretion can consist 
with the abilities I have allowed him; nor ciin he 
conceive that a very honest man, with a very good 
understajjding:, may be deceived by a knave. His 
knowledge of human nature must be limited indeed. 
Had lie never mixed with the world, one would think 
that even liis books might have taught him better. 
Did ise hear Lord Man^field when he defended his 
dot-trine couceining libels p Or when he stated tlie 
law in prof^ecutions for criminal conversation? Or 
•when he delivered his reasons for calling the House of 
Lords together to receive a copy of his charge to the 
jury in Woodfall's trial p Had he been present upoa 
any of these occasions, he would have seen how pos- 
sible it is for a man of the first talents to confound 
himself ifl absurdities, whiclj ffould disgrace the lips 



JUNIUS. 239 

Tan iiliot. Perhaps liie example raigbt have taught 

ira not to value his own understaudins fo highly. 

jLord Lyttleton> integrity aud judgment are iinqties- 

korv^bie ; yet he U known to admire that cunning 

i5cotchman, and verily believes him an honest man. 

ii ppeak to facts, with which all of us are convprsrint 

Ii speaft fo men, and to their experience; and will not 

; Jescend to answer the little sneering sophistries of a 

loUeiiinn. Distinguished talents are not necessarily 

•onn' cted with discretion. If there be any thing re- 

narkable in the character of Mr. Plorne, it is, that 

fjtipme want of judgment should be united with hig 

olod«rate capacity. Yet I have not forijott-en the 

;kn()wled2;ment I mTde him ; he owes ittnmy bount. 

and though his k ttser has lowered him in my 

iinion, I scorn to retract thf ch^rit-ible donation. 

I said it would be wry difficult for Mr. Home to 

rite directly in defence of a min'slerial measure, and 

)t t)e detected, and even that difRcuIty I confined to 

s particular situation. Hechanges the termsof the 

iroposition, and suiipo^es me to assert, that it would be 

! impossible for any man to write for the newspapers, 

j md not be di-*covered. 

I Hp repeatedly affirms, or inlimatrj at least, that he 
<D0ws the author of these letiers. With what colour 
^f truth, then, can he pretend. That J am no nhere ia 
\he encountered but in a ncnsj^ajjcr? I shall leave him 
o itU suspicions. It is not necessary that 1 should 
jonfide in the honour or discretion of a man, who al- 
[eady seems to hate tne with as much rancour as if i 
lad formerly been his friend. But he asserts, that he 
lis traced me through a variety of signntures. To 
l|ake the discovery of any importance to bis purpose, 
be should have proved, eitlier that the fictitious 
Bharacter of Junius has not been consistently support- 
ed, or that the author has maintained different prio- 
aiples under different signatures. I cannot recall to 
my memory the numberless trifles I have w. itten ; but 
! rely upon the consciousness of my own integrity, and 
iefy himto fix any colourable charge of inconsistency. 
I am not bound to assign the secret motives of his 
ippareut hatred of Mr. Wilkes: nor does it follow, 
■hat I may not j.idge fairly of his conduct, though it 
tfrere true that J had no conduct of my onti. Mr. 
id»rae enlarges with rapture upon the importance ef 



-^8 JUNIUS. 

his services ; the dreadfal battles which he niio'ht ha* J 
been engaged in, and tlie dangers he has escaped lo. 
support ot the formidable description he quot*.^ 
verses without mercy. The gentleman deals in fic- 
tion ana n.|turalJy appeals to the evidence of the 
''T •: .^T^'^'nS. hira at his word, he cannot hut 
admit the superiority of P/[r. Wilkes in this line 
ol service. On one side, we see nothing but ima- 
gniary distresses; on the other, we see re.d prosecu- 
tions ; real petiaities ; real imprisonment: life repeat- 
edly hazarded ; and, at one moment, ulmoFt the cer- 
tainty of aeath. Thanks are undoubtedly due to 
every man who doeshisdiity in the engagement, but 
U IS ttie wounded soldier who deserves the reward. 

J do n.t mean to deny, that Mr. Home had been 
an active partisan, h would defeat my own purpose 
not to allow him a degree of merit which ao-o-ravHtes 
bis guilt. Tlie very charge of conlributtng fns uijrwst 
efforts to support a ministerial measure, implies an 
acknowledgment of hi.^ former services. If he had not 
once been distinguished by his apparent zeal in de- 
lenee olthe common cause, he could not now be dis- 
tinguised by d^seitingit. As for myself, it is no lonoeit 
a question, Ji heeler 1 shr.ll mix with the throng and 
tane a single share in the danger. Whenever Juniut 
appear.-^, he mu^^t encounter an host of euemies. But is 
there no honourable way to serve the public, without 
engaging in personal quarrels with insignificant indi- 
viduaii?, or submitting to the drudgery of canv-tssing 
votes for an election;* Is there no merit in dedicating 
my hfe to the infojination of my fellow subjects ? 
W hat public question nave I declined ? What villain 
Uave I spared ? Is there no labour in the composition 
of these letters p— Mr. Home, I fear, is partial to mc^ 
and measures the facility of my writings by the fluency^ 
of his own. 

He talks to us in hi-h terms of the gallant feats hei 
would have performed if he had lived in the last cen-j 
tury. The unhappy Charges could hardly have es-1 
caped him. But living Princes have a claim to hij 
attachment and respect. U. on these terms there ift 
no danger m being a patriot. If he means any thin» 
more than a pompous rhapsody, let us tiy how wctt 
his argument holds together. I presu.me he is not yet 
so mwch a courtier as to affirm, tkat tUt: coostituUot^^ 



JUNIW^. 241 

18 not been grossly and daringly violated under the 
e?ent reign. He will not say, that the laws have 
t been pliamefully broken or preverted ; that the 
jhts of the subject have not been invaded; or, that 
dress has not been repeatedly solicited and refused, 
rievances, like these, were the foundation of the re- 
llion in the last century ; and, if I understand Mr. 
orne, they would, at that period, have justified him, 
hi? own mind, in deliberately attacking the life of 
s Sovereign. I shall not ask him to what political 
institution this doctrine can be reconciled: but, at 
^st, it is incumbent upon him to show, that the pre- 

Et King has -better excuses than Charles the Firsts 
the errors of his government. He ought to de- 
nstrate to us, that llie constitution was better un- 
jrstood an hundred years ago, than it is at ttresent; 
lat the legal rights of the subject, and the limits of 
le prerogative, were more accurately defined, and 
, ore clearly comprehended If propositions, like 
lese, cannot be fairly maintained, I do not see how 
:e can reconcile it to hi? conscience, not to act im- 
mediately with the same freedom with which he 
'leaks. I reverence the character of Charles the 
;Srsi as little as Mr. Home ; but I will not insult 
;is micfortunes, by a comparison that would degrade 
iui. 

J It is worth observing, by wlmt 5;entle degrees the 
';irio"9, persecuting zeal of Mr. Home has 'softened- 
ito moderation. Men and measures were yesterday 
^is object. What pains did he once take to hi ing that 
'eat state criminal M^Quirk to execution p To-day- 
e confines himself to measures only ; no penal exam- 
le is to be left to the succes.sors of the Duk«^ of Graf- 
>n. To-morrow, 1 pre.'ume, both men and measures 
fill be forgiven. The 11 tming patriot, who sohttely 
»rclied us in the meridian, shines temperately to the 
ifest, and is hardly leit as h<' descends. 
. I comprehend the policy of endeavouring to com- 
lunicate to Mr Oliver and Mr. Sawbridge, a share 
1 the reproaches with which he supposes me to have 
)aded him. My memory fails me, if I have mentioned 
*Aeir names witii disrespect ; unless it be reproichful 
sacknowledae a sincere respect for the ch iracter of 
tr. Sawbridge, and not to have questioned the in- 
nocence of Mr. Oliver's intentioas- 



/ 



JUNIUS. 



It sppms I am a partisan of the great leader of th» 
oiiposltioii. If the cliarge had been a reproach,! 
shouKl have been better supporleci. I did not ititenc 
to make a public declaration of the respect I beai 
Lord Chatham; I well knew thnt unworthy conelii 
sions would be drawn from it. But I am called upon 
to deliver my opiniou ; and surely it is not in the littl< 
censure of Mr. Home to deter me from doing si:£nai 
justi'ie to a man, who, I confess, iias grown upon m> 
esteem. As for the common sordid views of avaric( 
or any purpose of vulgar amhition, I question whptheri 
the api)lause of Junius would be of service to Lordl 
Chatham. My vote will hardly recommpnd him to| 
an increase of his pension, or to a seat in the cabinet.i 
But, if his ambition be upon a level witli his under- 
stnndin^-, if hejiidges of what is truly honourable for 
himsplf, vvith the same superior gi^nius which animatcH 
and directs iiim to eloquence in debate, to wisdom in 
decision, even the pen of Junius shall contribute to 
reward him. Recorded honours shail gather round 
his mouumrnt, and thicken over him. It is a solid fa- 
bric, atnl will suppo. t the laurels that adorn it. lam 
liot conversant in the language of panegyric. These 
praises are extorted from me ; but they will wear well, 
for they have been di>arly earned. 

My detestation of the Duke of Grafton is not foun- 
ded tipon his treachery to any individual : though I am 
willing (Kiouffii to suppose, that in pubic affairs, it 
Avould be impossible to dej-ert or betr>iy Lord Chatham, 
without doing an essential injury to this country. My 
abhorrence of the Duke arises from an intimate know- 
ledge of his character; and from a thorough convic- 
tion that Im baseness has been the cause of greater 
mischief to Knglaud, than even the unfortunate am- 
bition of Loid Bute. \, I 
Tlie shortening the duration of Parliaments is a' 
subject on which i\lr. Hornec.iuiiot enlarge too warm- 
ly, nor will I qu<>stion his sincerity. If t did not pro- 
fes-s the same sentiments, I should bi- .^hamr^fidly incon- 
sistent with myself. It is unnecessary to bind Lord 
Chathaas bvthe written formality of an engagement. 
±He has publicly decLir* d himself a convert to trien- 
Vwai Parliaments; and though I have long been con- 
viflced, that this is tne only possible resource we have 
lA'ft fcp preserve tk^eubEtenlial fceetiom of the cons'.itu 



JUNIUS. 243 

lion, I do not Ibinlf we have a rig;ht to determine 
-against the integrity of Lord Rockingham or his 
friends Other measiirps iiny undoubtedTy be stioport- 
ed ill argimient, as better adapted to the disorder, of 
more likf'ly to be obtained. 

Mr. Home is well assured that I never was the 
chimpion of Mr. Wilkes. But though I am not obli- 
ged to answer for tlie firmness of his future adherence 
to the principles he professes, I have no reason to pre- 
sume that he will Itereafter disgr-.ice them. As for all 
'ti'.ose imaginary cases which Mr. Home so petulantly 
urges against me, I have one plain honest answer to 
mike to hitri. Whenever Mr. Wilkes shall be convic- 
ted of solicilins; a pension, an embassy, or a govern- 
ment, he mustdepartfro-n that situation, and renouncfi 
that character, which ho assumes at present, and 
which, in my opinion, entitles him to the support of 
the public. By the same act, and at the same mo- 
ment, he will forfeit !iis power of mortifyinoftheKinjj; 
and though he can never be a favourite at St. James's, 
his baseness may administer a solid satisfaction to ti)e 
royal mind. The man I speak of, has not a heart 
^o feel for the frailties of h'n fellow creatures. It h 
their virtues that afilict, it is their vices that console 
him. 

I give every possible advantag:e to Mr. Home, 
when I take the facts he refers to for granted. That 
they are the produce of his invention, seems hii^hly 
piob;-.ble ; that they are exaggerated, I have no douht. 
At tlie worst, wliatdo they amount to ? but that Mr. 
Wilkes, who never was tiiought of as a perfect pattern 
lif morality, has not been at all timesproof agains^t the 
2xtremity of distress. How shameful is it in a man 
(vho has lived in friendship with him, to reproach him 
fvith failings too naturally coniiected with despair P Is 
10 allowance to be made for banishment and ruin.'^ 
Does a tjo years imprisonment make no atonement 
or hi.^ crimes? The resentment of a priest is imj;Ia- 
:able : -no sufferings can soften, no penitence can ap- 
)rase him. Vet he himself, 1 think, upon his own 
yslem, has a multitude of political offences to atone 
6r^ I will not insist upon the nauseous detail with 
rhich he has so long disgusted the public: he seems 
b be ashamed of it. But what excuse will he make 
b tlic friends of the constltr.tiop,\for labouring to 



244 JUNIUS. 

promote this coosummately bad man to a stati 
the highest national trust and importance ! I 
■what honourable motives did be recommend hi: 
the iivery of London for their representative? t( i 
■ward of Farringdon for their alderman p to the f ■ 
ty of Middlesex for their knight ? VV ill he afSrm, 
at that time, he was ignorant of Mr. Wilkes's fl 
tation to the Ministry? That he ^ hould say so, i 
deed, very necessary for his own jnstificati.>n : 
where will he find credulity to believe himp. 

In what school this gentleman learned {us ell 
kno'vV not. His iosie seems to have been stndie- 
derMr. Dyson. That miserable pamphleteer, 1 
vi<iingtheonly precedentin point, and taking as i 
of it as suited bis purpose, had reduced his argu 
upon the Middlesex election to something lik< 
shape of a syllogism Mr. Home has conducted 
self with the same ingenuity and candour. I h;i 
firmed, that Mr. Wilkes would preserve the publ 
vou', "■ as long as he stood forth against a Mir 
and Parliament, who were doing every thing 
could to enslave the country, and as long a« h( 
a '.horn in the King's side." Yet, from the exi 
triumph of Mr. Home's reply, one would think l 
.had rested my expectation, that Mr. VV ilkes v 
be gupported by the public upon the single con( 
of his mortifying the King. Thia may be lo; 
Cambridge, or at the treasury ; but, among u 
sense and honour, it is folly or villany in tlie ext. 
1 see the pitiful advantage he has taken of a ! 
tmguarded expression, in a lettei' not intended ft 
public. Yet it is only the expression that is ung 
ed. I adhere to the true meaning of that mem 
the sentence, taken separately as he take? it: 
now, upon the coolest deliberation, re-assert, th; 
the purposes I referred to, it may be hignly merit( 
to the public to wound the personal ieelings f 
Sovereign . It is not a general proposition, no 
generally applied to the Chief Magistrate of t 
any other constitution. Mr. Home knows, a; 
as I do, that the best of Princes is not displeased 
the abuse which he sees thrown upon his ostei 
Ministers. It makes them, I presume, more pro 
the objects of h'u royal compassion. Neither d 
«seape his sagacity, that the lower they are degi 



!;i the public esteem, the more submissively they must 

. epend upon his favour for jjrotection. 1 his I affind, 

pon tl>e most solemn conviction, and the most cer- 

/lin knowledjre, is a leading maxim in the policy ol' 

. :ie doset. It is unnecessary to pursue the argument 

'Wy farther. 

Mr, Home is now a very loyal siihject. Helamenfs 

le wretched state of politics in this country : and 

:-»e8, in a new li^lit, the weakness and folly of the 

• iposition. Whoever, or wh-atever, is Soverei^, de- 
ands the respect and support of the people:* it was 
Dt so Tvhen JS'ero Jjddled while Rome was burning. 

•• urgraciotis Sovereign h;is had wonderful success ia 
t -eating new attachments to his person and family. 

* 'C owfs it, I presume, to the regular system he has 
u'sued in the mystery of conversion. He bcgau 
ith an experiment upon the Scotch, and concludes 

- ith converting Mr. Home. Wljat a pity it is that 
e Jews should be condemned by Providence to waij 
r a Messiah of their own ! 

The priestliood are accused of misinterpreting the 
-i riptun-s. Mr. Home has improved upon his profes- 
i m. He alters the text, and creates a refutable doc- 
i: ne of his own. Such artilices cannot long delude 
1 12 understandings of the people; and without mean- 
ii.lfao indecent comparison, I may veatnre toforetel, 
I2i.»t the Bible and Junius will be read when the com- 
nrmtaries of the Jesuits are forgotten, 

JUMU?. 



LETTER LV. 

To the Printer of the Public Jdceriikr. 

i 
•.■ AtJGi'ST 2G, 1771. 

The enemies of the people, havingnow notiiina; l)ct- 
to ohjc-ot to my friend Junius, are at last oblige^} 
init his politics, and to rail at him Tor crime? he k 
^ruilty of. His vanity and impiety are now the per- 
ual topics of their abuse. 1 do not mean to Icj-scn 

* The wfy soliloqu'ii of Lord Snffdlk brJUreM pa??e,J /!« 



:-is JUNIUS. 

the force of sucli charges, supposing they were tnit^ 
b'lt to sliow that tliey are not founded, if I admitted 
the premises, I should readily agree in all the con- 
sequences drawn from them. Vanity, indeed, is a 
^'enal error ; for it usually carries its own punishment 
irith it; hut if I thought Junius capahle of uttering a 
disrespectful word of the religion of his country, I 
'.Iiould he the first to renounce and give him up to the 
jMiblic contempt and iudignatiou. As a man, I am 
satisfied that he is a Cluistian, upon the most sincere 
conviction : as a writer, he would be grossly inconsis- 
tent with his political principles, if iie dared to attack 
a religion, established by those laws which it seems to 
be the purpose of his life to defend. Now for the 
jjroofs. Jiiuius is accused of an impious allusion to 
the iioly sacrament, where he says, Tiiat, if Lord 
fVeymouih he denied the cup, there would be no keep- 
<.ng him rvU hill the pcde of the Minislry. Now, Sir, I 
aitlrm, that this passage refers entirely to a ceremo^ 
:nial in the Roman Catholic church, Wiiich denies the 
oiip to the laity. It has no manner of relation to the 
Protestant creed \ and is in this country as fair an ob- 
ject of ridicule as transubstaniiation, or any other 
part of Lord Peter's History, in the Tale of the Tub, 
But Junius is charged with equal vanity and impie- 
ty, in comparing his writings to the Holy Sci-ipture?. 
The formal protest lie makes against any such com- 
parison avails him nothing. It becomes neces.sary 
sheu to show that the charge destroys itself, if he be 
vain, he cannot be impious. 

A vaiu man dops not u?uilly compare himself 
to an object wliic!) it is his design to undervalue. 
On the other hand, ifhe be impious, he camiot be vain, 
^'iov his impiety, if auy, must consist ia his endeavour- 
'ing to degrade the Holy Scriptures, b^ a comparison 
with his own contem; tible writings. This would be 
ib'.ly, indeed, of the grossest nature t but where lie.' 
the vanity;' I shall now be told, "Sir, what you say 
is plausible enough : but still you must allow, that it, 
is shamefully impudent in Juiius to tell us tliat htsj 
Tvorks will li'veas long as the Bible." My answer is.. 
Agreed; but first prove that he, has said so. Look at| 
bis word , and you will find that the utmost he expects 
is, that the Bible and Junius will survive the commen-, 
'taries of .tke Jesuits which may pr(jYC true io a t^tt^ 



JUNIUS^. ^ 

higlit. The most malignant sagacit7_ cannot show: 
that his works arc, m Ais opimon, to Uveas long a< 
the Bible. Suppose 1 were to foretel, that Jack and^ 
Tom would survive Harry, does it follow that Jack \ 
must live as long as Tom ? I would only illustrate my^ \ 
meaning, and protest against the least idea of pro- 
faneness. 

Yet tliis is the way in which Junius is usually an- 
swered, arraigned and convicted- These candid critics 
never remember any thing he says in honour of our 
holy religion ; tliough it is true, that one of his leadr 
ing arguments is made to reet upon the ijiternal eri- 
dtnce, which the purest of all religions carries with it* 
I quote his words ; and conclude from them, that he 
is a true and hearty Cluistian, in substance, not in 
ceremony; though possibly he may not agree with my 
Rpverend Lords the Bishops, or with the headof tlie 
Church, thMt prayers are morality, or that kneeliwg is 
religion. 

PHILO JUNIUS.. 



LETTER LVr. 

JSrora the Reverend Mr. Home to JuniU». 

August 17, 1771. 
I coNouATuT.ATEyou, Sir, on the recovery of your 
wonted style, though it has cost you a fortnight. .1 
compassionate your labour in tlie Composition of your 
letters, and will communicate to you the secret of my 
3uency. Truth needs no ornament; and in my opin- 
ion, wliat she borrows of the pencil is defonnity. 
' Vou brought a positive charge against me of corrup- 
cion. I denied the charge, antl called for your proofs. 
'Vou replied witli abuse, and re-asserted your charge. 
,f called again for proofs. You reply again with <ibusc 
' jnly, and drop your accusation. In your fortnight^g 
•'etter, there i.'- not one word upon the subject of my 
JiorruptioD. I have no more to say, but to leturn 
.hanks to you for yonr condescension, and to a giate- 
lil ;;uh!ic, and honest Ministry, for all the favours 
:;hey have conferred upon me. The two latter, I am 
iiure, will never refuse me any grace I sliall solidti; 



248 JUKIUS. 

irtid since you Itave been pleased to acknowledge, thai 
yon told a deliberate lie in my favour, out of bounty, 
and as a charitable donation, why may I not expect 
thnt you will hfreafter (if you do not forget you ever 
rxentioned my nanne with disrespect) make the same 
acknowledgment for what you have said to my pre- 
judice. This second recantation will perhaps, be more 
abhorrent frcni your disposition ; but should you de- 
cline it, you will only afforrl one more instance, how 
much easier it is to be generous than ju8t» and that 
men are sometimes bountiful who are not honest. 

At all events, I am as well satined with panesjyric 
as Lord Chatham can be. Monument I shall have 
none ; but over my grave it will be said, in your own 
-words, " Home's situation did not correspond with 
Jiis int&ntions.^^* 

JOHN HORNBY 



LETTER LVII. 

To his Grace the Dvke of Grafton, 

ftXTiOp.D, Sept. 28, 1771. 

The people of England are not apprised of the full 
extent of their obligations to you. They have yet 
noadequate idea of the endless variety of your cha- 
racter. They have seen you di^tioguishe^l and sue- 
eeseful in the continued violation of those moral and 
political duties, by which the little as well as the 
^! - it fiocietiesof life are connected and held too;ether 
Every colour, every character became you. With a 
rate of abilities which Loid Weymouth very justl\ 
looks down upon with contempt, you have done as 
much mischief to the community as Croiijwell would 
have done, if Cromwell had been a coward; and ai' 
much as Machiavel, if Machiavel had not known 
that an appearance of morals and religion are useful 
In society. To a thinking man, the influence of the. 
Crown will, in no view, appear so formidable, as 
whoa he observes to what enormous excesses it has 

* Tht epitaph would not be itl-su'tfd (o (he pkaveHterfJit, 
tk^, fciwf, it U bid t'irdvff:'ei. 



•JUNIUS. 24# 

safely contacted your Grace, without a ray of real 
understanding, without even the pretensions to com- 
mon decency, or principle of any kind, or a single 
spark of personal resolution. What must be the ope-' 
ration of that pernicious influence (for which our 
kings have wisely exchanged the uugntory name of 
prerogative) that in the highest stations can so abun- 
dautly sopply the absence of virtue, courage, and 
abilities, and qualify a man to be the minister of a 
great nation, whom a private gentleman would be 
ashamed and afraid to admit into his family ! Like 
the universal passport of an ambassador, it super- 
sedes the prohibition of the laws, baoi^^ties the staole 
virtues of tiie country, and introduces vice and folly 
triumphantly into all the department? of the states 
Other princes, beside his Maje!<ty, have had the 
means of corruption within their reach, but they 
have nsed it with moderation. In former times, 
corruption was considered as a foreign auxiliary to 
igovemment, and only called in upon extraordinary 
emergencies. The unfeigned uietv, the sanctified 
religion of Qeor^e the Thirds )iave taught him to 
new model the civil forces of the state. The nntxral 
resources of the crown are no longer confided in. 
Corruption glitters in the van, collects and maintains 
la standing army of mercenaries, and at the same mn- 
imenl impoverishes and enslaves the country. His 
;* Majesty's predecessors (excepting that woiihy family 
from which vou, my Lord, are unquestionably de- 
scended) had somo generous qualities in their compo- 
"sition, with vices, I confess, or frailties in abundance. 
]They were kings or gentlemen, Bot hypocrites or 
I priests. They were at the head of the chine!), but 
did not know the value of their office. They said 
their prayers without ceremony, and had too little 
;j^rie3t-craft in their understanding, to reconcile the 
'sanctimonious forms of reli^on with the utter destruc- 
'Stion of the morality of their people. My Lord, this 
•is fact, not declamation. With all your partiality 
to the House of Stuart, you must confess that evea 
I Charles the Second would have blushed at that open 
'encouragement, at those eager, meretricious caresses, 
with Avhich every species of private vice and public 
iprostitution is received at St.. James's. The unfor- 
tunate House of Stuart has been treated with an as- 
?erify \fk[c)f. if gonapariseB I^Q .a,d!e.fqnce, Keemj to 



-t:5P J-HNiUS; 

border upen iitjiistice. Neither Charles, nor his 
brother were qualified to support siich a ?ystem of 
meastires as would be necessary to change the go- 
vernment, and subvert the constilntion of England. 
One of them was too much in earnest in his pleasures, 
the other in his religion. Birt the danger to this country 
Avould cease to be problematical, if the Crown should 
ever descend to a prince, whose apparent simplicity 
might throw his subjects ofFtheir guard, who might 
be no libertine in Behaviour, who should have no 
Fense of honour to restrain him, and who, with just 
religion enough to impose tipon the multitude, mi^ht 
have no scruples of conscience to interfere with liis 
morality. With tliese honourable qualifications, aiid 
the decisiveadvantageof situation, low craft and false- 
hood are all the abilities that are wanting to destroy 
the wisdom of ages, and to deface the noblest monu- 
ment that human policy has erected. I know suck a 
man : My liord, 1 know you both ; and, with the 
blessing of God (for I, too, am religious) the people 
of England shall know you as well as I do. I am not 
Tery sure that greater abilities would not in effect 
be an impediment to a design which seems, at first 
sight, to require a superior capacity. A better un- 
derstanding might make him sensible of the wonder- 
ful beauty of that system he was endeavouring to cor- 
rupt ; the danger of the attempt might alann him r 
the meanness and intrinsic worthlessnessof the object 
(supposing he could attain it) would fill him with 
shame, repentance and disgust. But these are sen- 
sations which find no entrance into a barbarous, con- 
tracted heart. In some men there is a malignant 
passion to destroy the works of genius, literature, and 
freedom. The Vandal and the Monk find equal 
gratification in it. 

Reflections like these, my Lord, have a general re- 
lation to your Grace, and inseparably attend you, in 
whatever company or situation you character occurs 
to us. They have no immediate connexion with the 
following recent fact, which I lay before the public, 
for the honour of the best of Sovereigns, and for the 
edification of his people, A Prince, (\vhose piety and 
self-denial, one would think, might secure him from 
such a multitude of worldly necessities) with an annual 
reveaue of near a iDJllioi} st^rling^uo/ortupately w«7i?fs 



JUNIUS.- ^i 

■■' money. The navy of England, by an equaHy strange 
li Concurrence of unforesepn circumBtancps (though not 
quite so unfortunately for his Majesty) is in equal 
, want of timber. The world knows in what a Hopeful 
, condition you delivered the navy to your successor, 
' find in wiiata condition we found it 'n\ the moment 
1 of distress. You were determined it should continue 
) in the situation in which you left it. It iiappened, 
I however, very luckily for the privy purse, tbat one 
I of the above wants promised fair to supply the other. 
: Otir religious, benevolent, generous Sovereign has no 
I objection to selling his own timber to las; own admi- 
ralty, to repair his own ships, nor to putting tt:8 ino- 
1 ney into his ovvn pocket. People of a religious turn 
uaturally adiicre to the principles of the^huich; 
' whatever they acquire falls into ntorfnjam. "*Upon a 
representation fron:the admiralty of the extraordiiia- 
ry want of timber for the indispensable repairs of the 
navy, the surveyor-general was directed to make 3, 
survey of the timber in all t!ie r yal chases and fc 
rests in England. Having obeyed his orders with accn - 
racy and attention, he reported that the finest timber 
he had any where met with, and the prpperest ia 
every respect, for the purposes of the navy, was in 
VV'hittlebury forest, of which your (jrace, 1 think, is 
hereditary ranger. In consequence of tliis report, tl.e 
usual warrant was prepared at tiie treasury, and de- 
livered to tlie surveyor, by which he, or his deputy, 
were authorized to cut down any tree.*! in Whittlebury 
Forest, which should appear to be proper for the { ur- 
poses above mentioned. The deputy being informed 
that tiie warrant was signed, and delivered to his 
principal in London, crosses ttie country to North- 
amptonshire, and, with an o.liciouszeal for the public 
service begins to do his duty in the forest. Unfortu- 
nately for him, he had not the warrant in his pocket. 
The oversight was enormous ; and you have punished 
him for it accordingly'. You have insisted, that an 
active, useful officer should be dismissed from his place. 
You have rnioed an innocent man and his family. 
In what language shall 1 address so black, so coward- 
ly a tyrant P Thou worse than >?ic of the Bruns- 
wick?, and all the Stuarts ! To them who know Lord 
North, it is unnecessary to say, that he was mean 
and base enoush to submit to yotr> This-, hOKcvev 



i5.but a smtiU part of the fact. After mining tlic 
•EUrsreyor's deputy, for acting without the warrant, 
joii attacked the warrant itself. You declared 
diat It was illegal ; and swore in a fit of foaming 
if antic passion, that it never should be Jexecuted. 
> ou asserted, upon your honour, that in the grant 
of the rangership of Whittlebury Forest, made by 
Cliarles the Second (whom with a modesty that 
t?ould do honour to Mr. Rigby, you are pleased to 
<«all your ancestor) to one of his bastards, (from 
whom I make no doubt of your descent,) the pro- 
^>erty of the timber is vested in the ranger, I have 
examined the original grant; and now, in the face 
of the public, contradict you directly upon the fact. 
The very reverse of what you have asserted upon 
your honour is the truth. The graut^fixjn-essly and 
% a ■particular clause, reserves the property of t!)e 
timber for the use of the Cimm. In spite of this evi- 
tlence, in defiance of the representalious of the admi- 
4'alty, in perfect mockery of the notorious distresses 
of the Euglish navy, and those equally pressing and 
almost equally notorious. necessities of your pious 
Sovereign, here the matter rests. The Lords of the 
freasuiy recall their warrant ; the deputy-sui-veyoF 
is ruined for doing his duty; Mr. John Pitt (whose 
name, 1 suppose, is offinsive to you) submits to be 
ijrow-beaten and insulted ; the oaks keep their ground ; 
the King is defrauded; and the navy of England 
may perish for want of the best and finest timber in 
the island. And all this is submitted to, to appease the 
Duke of Grafton ! to gratify the man who has in- 
volved the King and his kingdom in confusion and 
.distress; and who, like a treacherous coward, deseriS 
edliis sovereign in the midst of it ! 

There has been a ?trauge alteration in your doe* 
■ fine, since yon thought it advisable to rob the Duke 
of Portland of his pi operty, in order to strengtiien the 
jhterest of Lord Bute's son-in law before the last 
i'iener^il election. Nullum tempus occurrit rep. was 
tften your boasted motto, and the cry of all your 
iiungry partisans. iVowit seems a graut of Charles 
the Second to one of his bastards is to be held sa- 
t pcd and inviolabj^ ! It must not be questioned by 
liieKing's servant.s, nor submitted to auy interpreta- 
tion but your -Kr-n. My Lord, this was not the lan- 
guage yru hcW. ^yl!^^ it. e/ited you (a ftisuTt t^•' 



JUNIUS; m 

memory of the glorious deliverer of Englanrl from 
that detested family, to which yon are still more 
nearly allied in principle than iu blood. In the name 
of decency and common sense, what are your Grace's 
merits, either witlj King or Ministry, that should en- 
title yon to asstinie this domineering authority over 
bothi' Is it the forti mate consanguinity you claim with 
the House of Stuart p Is it the secret correspondence you 
have so many years carried on with Lord B*itc, by 
the assiduous assistance of your cream coloured para^- 
site ? Could not your gallantry find sufHcient em- 
ploymeut for him, in those genlle officesby which he 
first acquired the tender friendship of Lord Barring- 
ton p Or is it only that wonderful sympathy of man- 
ners which- subsists between your grace and one of 
vour superiors, and does so much honour to you 
both P Is the union of Blijil and Black George no lon^ 
ger a romance? From whatever origin your influ- 
ence in this country arises, it is a phenomenon in the 
history of human virtue and understanding. Good 
men can hardly believe the fact ; wise men are una- 
ble to account for it. Religious mon find exercise 
^r their faith, and make it the last effort of their 
piety not to repine against Providence. 

JUjXIUS. 



LETTER LVIII. 

Addressed to the Livery of London. 

GENTLEMEN, SEPTEMnF.R 30, 177], 

If you alone were concerned iu the event of the 
present election of a chief magistrate of the metro- 
polis, it would be the highest presumption in a stran- 
ger to attempt to influence your choice, or even to 
offer you his ©pinion. B»it the sitiiation of public 
affiiirs has annexed an extraordinary importance to 
your resolutions. You cannot, in the choice of your 
magistrate, determine for yourselves only. You are 
going to determine upon a point, in which every 
aiv?mber of the community is iutg-ested. I will not 
scruple to say, that the very bcinzol that law, of that 
right, of that coustitution, for which we have been so 



254 3UNIUS. 

long contcntling:, is now at stake. They who woui4 
ensnare your judgment, tell you, it is a common or- 
<linary case, and to be decided by ordinary precedent 
and practice. Tiiey artfully conclude, from moderate 
peaceable times, to times which are not moderate, and 
which ought not to be peaceable. U'iiile they solicit 
-^^ovv favour, they in^i^t upon a rule of rotation, which 
excludes all id .'a of election. 

Let me be liouoiired with a few minuteaof your at- 
tention. The question, to those who mean fairly to 
Ihe liberty of the people, (which we all profess to have 
in view,) lies wittiin a very narrow compass. Do yon 
mean to desert that juit an honourable system of mea- 
snres which you have hitherto pursued, in hopes of 
obtaining from Parliament, or from the.Crown, a full 
redress of past grievances, and a security for the fu- 
ture ? Do you think the cause desperate, and will you 
declare that you think so to tiie whole people of Eng- 
land ? If this be your meaning: and opinion, you will 
act consistently with it in choosing Mr. Nash. I pro- 
fess to be unacquainted with his private character j 
but he has acted as^ a magistrate, as a public man. 
As such I sneak of him. 1 see his name in a protest 
against one of your remonstrances to the crown. He 
has done every thing in his power to destroy the 
freedom of popular elections in the city, by publish- 
ing the poll upon a former occasion; and I know, in 
general, that he has distinguished himself, by slight- 
ing and thwarting all those public measures which 
you have engaged in with the greatest warmth, and 
hitherto thought most worthy of ymir approbation. 
From his past conduct, what conclusion will you draw 
but that he will act the same part as Lord Mayor, 
which he has invarial)Iy acted as Alderman and 
Sheriff.'' He cannot alter his conduct without confess- 
ing, that he never acted upon priueiple of any kind. 
1 should be sorry to injure the character of a man, 
who, perhaps, may be honest in his intention, by 
supposing it possible that he can ever concur with 
you in any political measure or opinion. 
• If, on tlie other hand, you mean to persevere in 
those resolutions for the public good, which, though 
not always successful, are always honourable, your 
cJioice will naturally incline to those men who (what- 
•*.ver they be ia other respects) are most iiltely to C0- 



JUNIUS. 25J 

©perate with yon in the great purpose vrblcli you are 
determined not to relinquish. The question is not, of 
trhat metal your instruments are made, but ivheiher 
they are adapted to the work you have in hand. Tlwi 
honours of the city, in these times, are improperly, 
becarise exclusively, called a reward. You' mean not 
merely to pay, but to employ. Are Mr. Crosby and 
Mr. Sawbridge likely to execute the extraordinary., 
as well as the ordinary, duties of Lord Mayor p Will 
they grant you common halls when it shall be neces- 
Pary p Will they go up with remonstrances to the 
King ? Have they firmness enough to meet the fury 
of a venal House of Commons i' Have they fortitude 
enough not toshrink at imprisonment? Have they spirit 
enough to hazard their lives and fortunes in a contest, 
if it should be neressary, with a prostituted legisla- 
ture? If these questions can fairly be answered in thf: 
aflfirmalive, your choice is made. Forgive this pas- 
ejonate language. I am unable to correct it. The 
subject comes home to us all. It is the language of 
my heart. JUNIUS, 



LETTER LIX. 

To the Printer of the Public Advertiser. 

SIR, OCTOEER 5, 177i. 

No man lament? more sincerely than I do, the uu- 
happy diifereuces which have arisen among the friemis 
ofthe people, and divided them from each other. The 
cause, undoubtedly, suffers as well by the diminution 
of that strength which union carries along with it, as- 
hy the separate loss of personal reputation, wliicli 
every man sustains when his character and conduct 
are frequently held forth in odious or contemptiblfc 
colours. These diflerences are only advantageous to- - 
the common enemy of the country. The hearty 
friends of the cause are provoked and disgusted. The 
lukewarni advocate avails himself of any pretence, to 
Felapse into that indolent indifference about every 
thing that ought to interest an Englishman, so un- 
justly dignified with the title of moderation. The^ 
fe.!s^ insidjoBs rarti?an, who creates or foa^ents tlie^'^ 



230 JUNIUS; 

disorder, sees the fniit of fiis honest industry ripen 
beyond his hopes, and rejoices in the promise of a 
banquet, only deHcioiis to such an appetite as his 
own. It is time for those who leally mean the Catise 
And the People, who have no view1;o private advan- 
tage, and who liave virtue enough to prefer the gene- 
ral good of the community to the gratification of per- 
sonal animosities; it is time for such men to interpose. 
liCt us try wliether these fatal dissensions may not be 
reconciled; or, if that be impracticable, let us guard 
at least against the worst efifects of division, and en- 
deavour to persuade these furiouH partisan^?, if they 
will not consent to draw together, to be separately 
iiseful to that cause which they all pretend to be 
attached to. Hononr and honesty m»ist not be re- 
nounced, although a thousand modes of ri^lit and 
wrong were to occupy the degrees of morality be- 
tween Zeno and Epicurus. The fundamental princi- 
ples of Christianity may still be preserved, though 
overy zealous sectary adheres to his own exclusive 
doctrine, and pious ecclesiastics make it part of their 
religion to persecute one another. The civil consti- 
tfition, too, that legal Jiberty, that general creed 
which every Englishman professes, may still be sup- 
ported, though Wilkes and Home, and Townshend 
and Sawbridge, should obstinately refuse to communi- 
cate ; and even if the fathers of the church, if Saviie, 
Richmond, Cam.den, Rockingiiam, and Chatham 
should disagree in the ceremonies of their politicai 
worship, aud even in the interpretation of twenty 
texts in Magna Cliarta. I speak to the people, as 
one of the people. Let us employ these men in 
whatever departments their various abilities are best 
suited to, and as much to the advantage of the com- 
mon cause, as their different inclinations will permit. 
They cannot serve us without essentially serving 
themselves. 

If Mr. Nash be elected, he will hardly venture, 
after so receRt a mark of the personal esteem of his 
fellow-citizens, to declare himself iinmedlately a cour- 
tier. The spirit and activity of tlie sheriffs will, I 
hope, be sufficient to counteract any sinister inten- 
xions of the Lord Mayor. In collision with theic 
virtue, periiaps, he may take Gre. 

Jt is not necessary to e.\act from Mt. Willies the 



Junius. !25¥ 

firtues-of a Stoic. They were inconsistent M-Ith 
. themselves, who almost at the same moment, repre- 
sented him as the basest of mankind, yet seemed to 
expect from him such instances of fortitude and self- 
• denial, as would do honour to an apostle. It is not, 
however, flattery to say, that he is obstinate, intre- 
. pid, and fertile in expedients. That he has no possi- 
ble resource but in the public favour, is, in my judg- 
ment, a considerable recommendation of him, I wish 
! that every man who pretended to popularity were in 
the same predicament. I wish that a retreat to St. 
James's were not so easy and open as patriots have 
found it. To Mr. Wilkes there is no access. Howe- 
ver he may be misled by passion or imprudence, I 
think he cannot be guilty of a deliberate treachery to 
the public. The favour of his country constitutes the 
shield which defends him against a thousand daggers. 
Desertion would disarm him. 

I can more readily admire the liberal spirit and 
integrity, than the sound judgment of any man who 
prefers a republican form of government, in this or 
any other empire of equal extent, to a monarchy so 
qualified and limited as ours. 1 am convinced, that 
neitiier is it in theory the wisest system of govern- 
ment, nor practicable in this country. Yet, though t 
hope the English constitution will for ever preserve 
its original monarcljical form, I would have tlie man- 
ners of the people purely and strictly republican. I 
do not mean the licentious spirit of anarchy and riot.- 
I mean a general attachment to the common weal, 
di^inct from any partial attachment to persons or 
fanfilies; an implicit submission to the laws only; 
and an affection to the magistrate, proportioned to 
the integrity and wisdom with which he distributes 
justice to his people, and administers their a6Fairs. 
The present habit of our political body appears to me 
the very reverse of what it ought to be. The form of 
the constitution leans rather more tlian enough to the 
popular branch; while, in effect, the manners of the 
people (of those at least who are likely to take a lead 
in the country) incline too generally to a dependence 
upon the Crown. The real friends of arbitrary power 
combine the facts, and are not inconsistent with their 
principles, when they strenuously support tiie unwar- 
ja ntable pri vileges assujned by the House of Comiuonsii 



253 J^UNlUSi 

In these cIrcum6tancGs,itweremuchtobe<Je8ire<l,that 
we had many such men as Mr. Sawbridge to represent 
iis in Parliament. I speak from common report and 
opinion only, when I iaipute to him a speculative pre- 
dilection in favour of a republic. In the personal 
conduct and manners of the man I cannot be mista- 
ken. He has shown himself possessed of that republi- 
can firmne«s wliich the times require ; and by which 
an English gentleman may be as usefully and as ho- 
nourably distinguished, as any citizen ofancient Rome» 
of Athens, or Lacedemon. 

Mr. Townshendcomplainsthatthe public gratitude 
has not been answerable to his deserts. It is not dif- 
iicuit to trace the arti6ces which have suggested to him 
a language so unworthy of iiis understanding. A great 
man comraantlsthe affections of the people; a prudent 
ftian does not complain when he has lost them. Yet 
they are far from being lost to Mr. Townshend. He 
has treated our opinion a little too cavalierly. A 
young man Is apt to rely too confidently upon him- 
self, to be as attentive to his mistress as a polite and 
pa«sionate lover ought to be. Perhaps he found her 
at 6rst too ea^y a conquest. Yet I fancy she will be 
rtady to receive him whenever he thinks proper to 
yfenew his addresses. With all his youth, his spirit, 
and hii* appearance, it would be indecent in the lady 
to solicit his return. 

' I have too much respect for the abilities of Mr. 
Home, to flatter myself that these gentlemen will 
ever be cordially reunited. It is not, however, un- 
reasonable to expect that each of them should act his 
separate part with honour and integrity to the public. 
As for differences of opinion upon speculative ques- 
tions, if we wait until they are reconciled, the action 
of human affairs must be suspended^ for ever. But 
neither are we to looli for perfection in any one man, 
nor for agreement among many. When Lord Chat- 
ham affirms that the autliority of tiie British legisla- 
ture is not supreme over the Colonics in the same 
seii?e in which it is supreme over Great Britain ; 
when Lord Camden supposes a necessity, (which the 
King is to judge of,) and founded upon that necessity, 
attributes to the Crown a legal power, (not given by 
the act itself,) to suspend the operation of an act of 
the legislature J I listen to them both v,Hh diffidence 



JUNIUS. 259 

and rosppct, bst wWioutthe smallest degree of con- 
viction or assent. Vet I doubt not tliey delivered 
their real sentiments, nor oiiftht they to be hastily 
condemned. I too have a claim to the candid inter- 
pretation of my country, when I aclvnowJedge an in- 
voluntary, compulsive assent to one very unpopular 
opinion. I lament the unhappy necessity, whenever 
it aiises, of providing for the safety of the state by a 
temporary invasion of the personal liberty of the sub- 
ject. Would to God it were practicable to reconcile 
these important objects, in every possible wUiation of 
public atFairs! I regard the legal liberty of the meanest 
man in Britain as much as my own, and would defend 
it with the same zeal. I know we must stand or fall 
together. But 1 never can doubt, that the community 
lias a right to command, as well as to purchase", the 
service of its membeis. I see that right founded ori- 
ginally upon a necessity which supersedes all aigu- 
Hient. I see it established by usage immemorial, and 
admitted by more than a tacit assent of the legislature. 
I conclude there is no remedy in the nature of things 
for the grievance complained of; for, if there were, it 
mu-t long since have been redressed. Though num- 
berless opportunities have presented themselves, higji- 
ly favourable to public liberty, no successful attempt 
has ever been made for the relief of the subject in this 
article. Fet it has been felt and complained of ever 
since England had a navy. The conditions which 
constitute this right must be taken together; sepa- 
rately, they have little weight. It is not fair to 
argue, from any abuse in tlie execution, to the ille- 
gality of the power; much less is a conclusion to be 
drawn from the navy to the land service. A seaman 
can never be employed but against the enemies of his 
country. The only case in which the King can have 
a right to arm his stibjects in general, is that of a 
foreign force being actually landed upon our coast. 
Whenever that case happens, no true Englishman 
will inquire whether the King's right to compel him 
to defend his country be the custom of England, or a 
grant of the legislature. With regard to the pre.vM for 
seamen, it does not follow that the symptoms may not 
be softened, although the distemper cannot be ct.ed. 
Let bounties be increased as far as the public purse 
can suppwt them. Still they have a limit; and whtp 



2eo JUNIUS. 

every reasonable expense is incurred, it will be foun^, 
in fact, that the spur of the press is wanted to give 
operation to the bounty. 

Upon the whole, I never had a doubt about the 
strict right of pressing, until I heard that Lord Mans- 
field had applauded Lord Chatham for delivering 
something like this doctrine in the House of Lord*. 
That consideration staggered me not a little. But, 
upon reflection, his conduct accounts naturally for it- 
self. He knew the doctrine was unpopular, and was, 
eager to fix it upon the man who is the first object of 
his fear and detestation. The cunning Scotcliman 
never speaks truth without a fraudulent design. In 
council, he generally affects to take a moderate part* 
Besidejhis natural timidity, it makes part of his politi- 
cal plan, never to be kuown to recommend violent 
measures. When the guards are called forth to mur- 
der their fellow subjects, it is not by the ostensible 
advice of Lord Mansfield. That odious office, his 
prudence tells him, is better leit to such men as Gow- 
er and Weymouth, as Barriugton and Grafton* Lord 
Hillsborough wisely confinesliis firmness to the distant 
Americans The designs of Mansfield are more subtle, 
more efTectual, and secure. Who attacks the liberty 
of the press? Lord Mansfield. Who invades the con- 
stitutional power of juries.^ Lord Mansfiekl. What 
judge ever challanged a juryman but Lord Mansfield ? 
Who was that judge, who, tosave the King's brotiier, 
affirmed that a man of the first rank and quality who 
obtains a verdict in a suit for criminal conversation, 
is entitled to no greater damages than the meanest 
mechanic ? Lord Mansfield. VVho is it makes Com- 
missioners of the Great Seal ? Lord Mansfield. Who 
19 it that forms a decree for those Commissioners de- 
ciding against Lord Chatham, and afterwards (find- 
ing himself opposed by the judges) declares in Parliar 
ment that he never had a doubt that the law was ill 
dirf; t opposition to th^t decree p Lord Mansfield. — 
Who is he that made t the study and pi-actice of his 
Kfe to undermine and alter the whole system of juris- 
prudence in the cmirt of King's Bench V liOrd Mans- 
field. ThfMv never exi-sted a man but himself who 
answered exactly to so complicated a description. 
Compared to these enormities, his original attachment 
"tt> the Pretender (to whom bis dearest brother was 



^confidential secretary) is a virtue of tlie first magoi- 
tude. But the hour of impeachment will come, and 
neither he nor Grafton shall escape me. Now let 
them make a common cause against Endand and the 
House of Hanover. A Stuart and a Murray should 
sympathize with each other. 

When I refer to signal instances of unpopular opi- 
,Tiions, delivers J and maintained by men who may weU 
be supposed to have no view but the public good, I do 
not mean to renew the discussion of such opinions. I 
should be sorry to revive the dormant quertions of 
Stamp Jet, Corn Bill, or Press-Warrant. 1 mean only 
to illustrate one useful proposition, which it is the in- 
tention of this paper to inculcate. That we shcnild rwt 
fenerally reject the friendship) or services of any man, 
ecaiu^e he diggers from us in a particular opinion. 
This will not appear a superfluous caution, if we ob- 
"Serve the ordinary conduct of mankind. In public 
affaire, there is the least chance of a perfect concur- 
jance of sentiment or inclination: yell every man is 
!able to contribute something to the common stock, 
and no man's contribution should be rejected. If in- 
dividuals have no virtues, their vices may be of use to 
us. I care not with what principle the new-born pa- 
triot is animated, if the measures he supports are br- 
nificial to the comnumity. The nation is interested 
in his conduct. His motives are his own. The pro- 
perties of a patriot are perishable in the individual: 
but there is a quick succession of subject?, and the 
breed is worth preserving. The spirit of the Ameri- 
cans may be an useful example to us. Our dogs and 
liorses are only English upon English ground; but 
patriotism, it seems, may be improved by transplant- 
jng. I will not reject a bill which tends to confine 
parliamentary privilege within reasonable bounds, 
though it should be stolen* from the House of Caven- 
dish, and introduced by Mr. Onslow. The features 
of the infant are a proof of the descent, and vindicate 
"the noble birth from the baseness of the adoption^ I 
willingly accept of a sarcasm from Colonel Barre or 
a simile from Mr. Burke. Even the silent vote of Mr. 
Calcraftis worth reckoning in a division. What though 
he riots in the plunder of the army, and has only de- 
termine<l to be a patriot when he could not be a peer;' 
! h§\ us profUb^ tlie a6siBta.Bce o^swt lofa.^iui'e tb<^ 



26iJ J€NIUS. 

are with us, and place them, if it be possible, in tlu 
post of danger to prevent desertion. The wary Wed 
dciburne, the pompous Suffolk,, never threw away 
tl^ie scabbard, nor even went upon a forlorn hope.— 
ihey alwaystreated the King's Servants as men with 
wliom, some time or other, they might possibly be in 
friendship. When a man, who stands forth for the 
public, has gone that length from which there is no 
practicable retreat, when he hasgiven that kind of per- 
sonal offence, wliich a pious monarch never pardons, 
I then bpgin totliinkhimin earnest, and thithe will 
never have occnsion to solicit the forgiveness of his 
♦:ouiitry. But instances of a deterniinatiou so entire 
and unreserved are rarely met with Let us take 
mankind as they are : let us distribute the virtues and 
abilities of individuals according to the office tlicy 
affect J and, when they quit the service, let us endea- 
vour to supply their places with better men than we 
have lost. In this country there are always candi- 
dates enough for popular favour. The temple of fame 
is the shortest passage to riches and preferment. 

Above all things, let me guard my countrymen 
against the meanness and folly of accepting of a trifling 
or moderate compensation for extraordinary and es- 
sential injuries. Our enemies treat us as the cunning 
trader does the unskilful Indian ; they magnify their 
generosity, when they give us baubles of little propor- 
tionate value for ivory and gold. The same House of 
Commons who robbed the constituent body of their 
right of free election ; who presume to make a law, 
under pretence of declaring it; who paid our good 
King's debts, without once inquiring how they were 
incurred ; who gave thanks for repeated murders 
committed at home, and for national jnfamy incurred 
abroad; who screened Lord Mansfield ; M-ho impri- 
soned the magistrates of the metropolis for asserting 
the subject's right to the protection of the laws ; who 
erased a judicial record, and ordered all proceedings 
»in a criminal suit to be suspended; this very House of 
Commons have graciously consented that their own 
Members may be compelled to pay their debts, and 
that contested elections ^hall, for the future, be deteiv 
mined with some decent regard to the merits of the 
case. The event of the suit is of no consequence to 
tlie Crowo. WbileparUaaaents are septeonial, tfie 



JUNIUS. 2<^ 

pBTjchage of the sitlihg member, or of the petitioner, 
[makes but the difference of a day. Concessions such 
as these are of little moment totiie sum of things; un- 
-tessitbe to prove that the worst of men are sensible 
bfthe injuries they have done us, and perhaps to de- 
monstrate to us the imminent danger of our situation, 
in the shipwreck of the state, trifles float, andarepre- 
xserved; while everything solid and valuable sinks to 
the bottom, and is lost forever. 

JUiSIUS. 



LETTER LX. 

To the Printer of the Public Jdveriiser, 

'jifti, October 15,1771. 

I AM convinced that Junius is incapable of wilfully 
9Biisrepre«enting any man's opinion, and that his in- 
clination leads him to treat Lord Camden with par- 
fticular candour and respect. The doctrine attributed 
5to him by Junius, as far as ll goes, corresponds with 
"that stated by your correspondent Scapvola, who seems 
ito make a distinction without a difference. Lord 
Camden, it is agreed, did certainly maintain, that, in 
the recess of Parliament, the King (by which we all 
'mean the King in Council, or tlie Executive Power) 
"flight suspend the operation of an act of the legisla- 
ture; and he founded his doctrine upon a supposed 
^necessity, of which tlie King, in the first instance, must 
be judge. The Lordn and Commons cannot be judges 
of it in the first instance, for they do not exist. Thu3 
tfar Junius. 

• But, says Scaevola, Lord Camden made Parliament^ 
\ and not the Kin^, judges of the necessity That Par- 
^liament may review the acts of Ministers, is unques- 
; tionable; but there is a wide difference between say- 
'ing, that the Crown has q. legal power, and that Min- 
isters may act at their peril.. When we say that aa 
act is illegal, we mean that it is forbidded by a joint 
resolution of the three estates. How a subsequent 
resolution of two of those branches can make it legal, 
c* initio^ vrill require explaaatioq^ If, it could, ^e 



2i64 .;funius. 

conseqiieoce would be truly dreadful, especially in 
these tiraes. There is no act of arbitrary power, which. 
the_ King might not attribute to necessity, and for 
which he would not be secure of obtaining the appro- 
bation of his prostituted Lords and Commons. If Lord 
©amden admits that the subsequent sanction of Parlia- 
ment was necessary to make the proclamation legal, 
why did he so obstinately oppose the bill, which was 
soon after brought in, for indemnifying all those per- 
sons who had acted under it p If that bill had not been 
passed I am ready to maintain, in direct contradiction 
to Lord Camden's doctrine (taken as Scaevola states 
it) that a litigious exporter of corn, who had suffered 
in his property, in consequence of the proclamation, 
might have laid his action against the custom-house 
officers, and would infallibly have recovered damages. 
No jury could refuse them ; and if 1, who am by no 
means litigious, had been so injured, I would assuredly 
have instituted a suit in Westminster-hall, on purpose 
to t;y the question of right, i would have done it upoa 
a principle of detlance of the pretended power of ei- 
ther or both Houses to make declarations inconsi?tent 
with law; and I have no doubt that, with an act of 
Parliament on my side, 1 should have been too strong 
for them all. This is the way which an Englishman 
Should ^peak and act; and not suiter dangerous pre- 
cedents to be established, because the circumstances 
are favourable o^r palliating. 

With reg'ard to Lord Camden, the truth is, that he 
inadvertantly overshot himself, as appears plainly by 
that unguarded mention of a tyranny of forty days^ 
which] myself heard. Instead of asserting that the 
proclamation W2is Icgal^he should have said, *'My 
1-fOrdg, I know the proclamation vizixlUgal; but I ad- 
vised it because it was indispensably necessary to 
save the kingdom from famine; and I submit myself 
to the justice and mercy of my country.*' 

Such language as this would have been manly, ra* 
lional, and consistent: not unfit for a lawyer, and 
every way worthy of a great man. 

PHILO JUNIUS. 

P. S. If Scaevola should think proper to write again 
upon this subject, I beg of him to give me a direct ap- 
«wer; ^hat is, a plain afRrmative or ne§ative, to flte 



JUNIKS. 285 

foilowiag questions: In the interval between the pub- 
lisiiing such a proclamation (or order of council) as 
that in question, and its receivinjj the sanction of 
;the two Houses, of what nature is it ? Is it legal or 
'illegal ? or, is it neitlier one nor the other ? I mean 
.to be candid, and will point out to hira the conse- 
quence of his ansvrer either way. If it be legal, it 
"wants no further sanction : if it be illegal, the subject 
is not bound to obey it; consequently it is an useless, 
nugatory act, even as to its declared purpose. Before 
the meeting of Pailiament, the whole mischief which 
it means to prevent will have been completed. 



LETTER LXI. 

To Zmo. 

siH, October, 17, \Tt'i. 

The sopliistry of your letter in defence of Lord 
Manstield is adapted^ to the character you defend* 
But Lord Mansfield is a man of /orn?, and seldom in 
his behaviour transgresses the rules of decorum. 1 
shall imitate his lordship's good manners, and leave 
you in the full possession of his principles. I will not 
call you liar, Jesuit, or villain; but, with all the po- 
liteness imaginable, perhaps, I may prove you so. 

Like other fair pleaders in Lord Mansfield's ecbool 
of justice, you answer Junius by.misquoling his words, 
and misstating his propositions. If I am candid 
enougli to admit that this is the very logic taught at 
St. Omer's, you will readily allow tliat it is the con- 
stant practice in the Court of King's Bench. Junius 
does not say that he npver had a doubt about the strict 
riglit of pressing, till he knew Lord Mansfidd nas of 
the same opinion. His words are, until he heard that 
Lord Mavsfield had applauded Lord Chatham for 
rruiintaining that doctrine in the House of Lords. It 
was uot the acciifental concurrence of Lord Mans- 
field's opinion, but the suspicious applause given by 
a cunning Scotchman to the man he detests, that rais- 
ed and justified a doubt in the mind of Junius. The 
question is not, whether Lord Mansfield be a man of 
l^arniDg aod ajbilities (wlrjch Junius hjw never <JI?z 



266 JUiNIUS. 

pn ted) but whether or no he abuses and misapplies hi 
talents. 

Junius did not say that Lord Mansfield had advisi 
ed the calling out of the guards. On the contrary, 
his plain moaning is, that lie left that odious office Ui 
men lesscunning than himself. Whether Lord. ManS'! 
field's doctrine concerning Hhels be or be not an ati 
tack upon the liberty of the press, is a question wliicli 
the public in general are very well able to determine,! 
1 shall not enter into it at present. Nor do I think it 
necessary to say much to a man who had the daring! 
confidence to say to a jury, " Gentlemen, you aretn 
bring in a verdict ^Mi% or not guilty; but whetherj 
the defendant be guilty or innocent is not n)atter for' 
3/our consideration." Clothe it in what language youi 
will, this is the sura total of Lord Mansfield's doc-] 
trine. If not, let Zono show us the difference. \ 

But it seems, the liberty of the press may be abused j 
and the abuse of a valuable privilege is the certain^ 
means to lose it. The first I admit ; but let the abuse 
be submitted to a jury ; a sufficient, and, indeed, the' 
only legal and constitutional check upon the license' 
of the press. The second I iiatly deny. In directl 
contradiction to Lord Mansfield, I affirm, tJiat " thej 
abuse of a valuable privilege is not the certain meansi 
to lose it :" if it were, tlie English nation would have' 
few privileges left^ for where is tlie privilege that hag' 
not, at one time or other, been abused oy indivi- 
duals ? But it i< false in reason and equity that parti- 
cular abuses should produce a general forfeitureJ 
Shall the community be deprived of the protection of 
$}ie laws, because there are robbers and murderers .^ 
Shall the community be punished, because individuals 
have offended .f* Lord Mansfield says so, consistently 
enough vyith his principles ; but I wonder to find him 
Bo explicit. Yet, for one concession, however extort- 
ed, I confess myself obliged to him. The liberty of 
the press is, after all, a valuable privilege. I agree 
with him most heartily, and will defend it against 
him. 

You ask me, what juryman was challenged by Lord 
Mansfield p 1 tell you, his name was Benson When 
his name was called. Lord Mansfield ordered the 
clerk to pass him by. As for his reasons, you may 
^k hhaself, for Ire assigned nooe ; but I can tell y<Jci 



JtNIUS. 257 

i^hat aH men thought of it. This Benson had be^o 

efractory upon a forinrr jury, an,d would not accept 
if the law as delivered by Lord Mansfield; but had 
rl)e impudence to pretend to think for himself . But 
)i ou, it seems, honest Zeno, know nothing of the mat- 
; °r. You never read Junius' letter to your patron : 
I'ou never heard of the intended instructions frona 
];he city to impeach Lord Mansfield; Vou never 
reard by what dexterity of Mr. Patterson that luea- 
i'.ire was prevented. How wonderfully ill some peo- 
iile are informed ! 

) Junius did never affirm, that the crime of seducing 
5ifie wife of a mechanic or a Peer, is not the same ta- 
(Cn in a moral or religious view. What he affirmed 
1 ) contradiction to the levelling principle so lately 
jdopted by Lord MansGrld, was, that the damages 

hould be proportioned to the rank and fortune of the 
[parties: and for this plain reason (admitted by every 
isther judge that ever sat in VVestminster-hall) be- 
iiause what is a compensation or penalty to one man, 
ii« none to another. The sophistical distinction you 
ijttempt to draw between the person injured and the 
.erson injiiring, is Mansfield all over If you can 
vuce establish the proposition, that the injured party 
\i not entitled to receive large damages, it follows, 
, retty plainly, that the party injuring should not be 
fOmpelled to pay them ; consequently the King's bro- 
jlier is effectually screened by Lord Mansfield's doc- 
jrine. Your reference to Nathan and David comes 
j aturally in aid of your patron's professed system of 
cirisprudence. He is fond of introducing into the 
:)ourt of King's Bench any law that contradicts or 
jxcludes the common law of England ; whether it be 

anon, civil, jus gentium, or Levitical. But, Sir, the 
[libleis the code of our religious faith, notof our mu- 
jicipal jurisprudence; and though it was the pleasure 

fGcd to inflict a particular punishment upon David's 
^Jrime (taken as a breach of his divine commands) and 
() send his prophet to denounce it, an English jury ha^^e 

othing to do either^ with David or the prophet. 
/I»ey consider the crime only as it is a breach of or- 
,'er, an injury to an individual, and an offence to sor 
,iety ; and they judge of it by certain positive rule* 
;f law, or by the practice of their ancestors. Upon 
;ie whole, tlie man ajtir God^s pmt ^^art fs awwh li& 



debtetl to you for comparing him tt) the Du ■ 
euraberland. That his Royal Highness may I 
man after Lord Mansfield's own heart, .«eenis 
more probable j and you, I think, Mr. Zeno, migj 
ceed tolerably well in the character of Nathan, 
evil deity, the prophet, and the royal sinner, \ 
b? very proper company for one another. 

You say Lord Mansfield did not make the 
injsjiioners of the Great Seal, and that he onb 
vised the King to appoint. I believe Junius n 
no .more j and the distinction is hardly worth 
puting. 

Vou say he did not deliver an opinion upon 
Chatham's appeal. 1 affirm that he did, direct 
favour of the appeal. This is a point of fact 
determined by evidence only. But you assign n( 
son for his supposed silence, nor for his desiri 
conference with the judges the day before, Wa 
'j:11 Westminster-hall convinced that he did it w 
view to puzzle them with some perplexing quei 
and in hopes of brining some of them over tod 
You say the commissioners were very capable of J 
ing a decree for themselves. By the fact, it oal: 
pears, that they were capable of framing an ii 
one; which, I apprehend, is not much to the c 
eitbefof their learning or integrity. 

We are both agreed, that Lord Mansfield ha- 
cessantly laboured to introduce new modes of 
ceeding in the court where he presides : but yoj 
tribute it to an honest zea] in behalf of innocence' 
pressed by quibble and chicane. I say, that he 
introduced nerv tow too, and removed the land-n-' 
established by former decisions. I say, that his 
is, to change a court of common law into^ a cou 
equity, ana to bring every thing within the arbitr 
of Q. pratoHan court. The public must determini 
tween us. But now for his merits. First, then, 
lestiblishment of the judges in their places for 
(which you tell us was advised by Lord Mansf 
w^as a concession merel)' to catch the people. It 
the appearance of a royal bounty, but had not 
real in it. The judges were already for life, ex( 
ing in the case of a demise. Your boasted bill < 
provides, that it shall not be in the power of 
Iiir>g'!3 !?'Jf-t?^Sf<T' foremc--'? them, ' At tr.p best^ffli 



JUNIUS. ^' 

»rc, il is only a legacy, not a gift, on the part of 1)53 
■•oseut Majeisty, j:jnce, for hiin^elf, he gives up no- 
ling. Tliat he did oppose LordComden and LortJ 
ortliington upon the proclamation against the cx- 
ortation of corn, isinosttroe, and with s;reat ability- 
■'ith l)is talpKt?, and taking tlio right side of po clear 
question, it was Impopsihlc to speak ill. His mo- 
ves are not so easily penetrated. They who are at- 
uainted with the ?tate of politics at that period, will 
uigc of tliem somewhat differently from Zeno. Of 
le popnlar bills, which you say l;e supported in the 
muse of Lords, the most material is unquestionably 
lat of Mr. Grcnville for deciding contested elections, 
ut 1 should be e;l.id to know upon what possible pre- 
?nce, any member of the upptT Houpe could oppose 
icii a bill, after it had passodthehf ve of commons?' 
''do not pretend to know wjjatshare he had in prompt- 
ly the other two bills; but ] am ready to give hiax 
II the credit yon desire. Still you will find, that a 
hole life of deliberate iniquity is ill atoned for by 
oing now and then a laudable action, ujion a mixed 
r doubtful piinciple. If it be unworthy of hi^j, 
lus ungratefullj' treated, to labour any longer ft»r 
le public, in God's name let hiiu retire. Hia bro- 
ler's patron (whofe health he once was anxious fo.r) 
idead; but tlie son of that unfortunate prince sur* 
ires, and. I dare say will be ready to receive him. 
Pi]iLO JUNlUiJ.. 



LETTER LXII. 

7h an Jdvocate in the Cause of ike Peopth. 

»» October 19, 1771.. 

You do not treat Junius fairly. You would noV 
ive condemned him so hastily, if yon had everreM 
jdge Foster's argument upon the legality of pressioi^ 
•.tamen.' A man who has not lead that argument, is 
pt quali6ed to speak accurately upon the subject. 
J answer to strong facts and fairrcasouirg, you pro~ 
lice nothing but a vague comparison between two 
lings AThich have little or no resemblance to^gich 
th^r. Gcrnral JVarrantSy it is tnie, tad been JiScr 



270 JUNIUS. 

issued ; but they hnd never been regularly queaUoDc 
or resisted until the case of Mr. Wilkes. He broiig;! 
them to trial; and tlie moment they were tried, thp 
were declared illegal. This is not the case of Pn 
IVarrants. They liave been complained of, qnestioi 
cd and resisted in a thousand instances; but still tb 
legislature have n^ver interposed, nor has there evt 
been a foimal decision against them in any of the si 
perior couits. On the contrary, tliey have been fr< 
quently recognized and admitted by Parliament: ar 
there are judicial opinions given in their favour b 
judges of the first character. Under the various cii 
eumstances stated by Junius, he has a riijht to cor 
elude for himself, that Uiere is no remedy. If yo 
have a good cue to propose, you may depend upon th 
Tissistance and applause of .Junius. The magistral 
"^vlio guards the liberty of the individual deserves tj 
be commended. Butlct him rememoer, that it isals 
Ills duty to provide for, or at least not to hazard, till 
>'afety of t'ne community. If, in the case of a forei.^ 
war, and t!ie expectation of an invasion, you woul 
rather keep your fleet in harbour, than man it h 
pressing seamen, who refuse the bounty, I have don 

You talk of disbanding the army with wonderf) 
ease and indivlerence. If a wiser man held such lar 
j^uage, I should be apt to suspect his sincerity. 

As for keeping up a much greater number of se; 
riien in time of peace, it is not to be done : you 
oppre.'s the mercl)ant,, you will distress trade, ar 
destroy the nursery of your seamen. He must be 
juiserable statesman who' voluntarily, by the same ac 
increases the public expense, and lessens the means 
M^portiug it. PHiLO JUIVIUS. 



LETTER LXill. 

OcTOBF.n 22, 1771.; 

A FRiKND of Junius desires it may be observed^ ( 
4inswer to A Barrister at Loiv.) 

\mo. That the fact of Lord Mansfield's having r 
dered a juryman to be passed by (wliicli poor Zei 
jQEv^r heard of) is now formally admitted. Whi 



^NIU«. 271 

Mr, Betisan's daine was called, Lord Manpfield was 
observed to flush in tlie face (a signal of guilt not un- 
common with him) and cried out, Pass him by. This 
I take to be sometbina; more than a peremptory chal- 
lenge: it is an unlawful command without any; reasou 
assigned. That the counsel did not resist, is true; 
but this might happen either from inadvertence, or 
a criminal complaisance to Lord Mansfield. Yon 
barristers are too apt to be civil to ray Lord Chief 
Justice, at the expense of your clients. 

2do. Junius did never s -.y that Lord Mansfield had 
destroyed the liberty of the press. " That his Lord- 
ship has laboured to destroy, tiiat his doctrine is an at- 
tack upon the liberty of the press, that it is an invasion 
of the right of juries,^' are the propositions maintained 
' by Junius. His opponents never answer him in point ; 
for they never meet him fairly upon his own ground. 
3h'o. Lord Mansfield's policy, in endeavouring to 
Fcreen his nnconstitutiooai doctrines behind an act of 
the legislature, is easily understood. Let every Eng- 
lishman stand upon his guard: the right of juries to 
return a general verdict, in all cases whatsoever, is a 
part of our couKtitution. It stands in no need of a 
bill, either enacting or declaratory, to confirm it. 

4to. With regard to the Grosvenor cause, it is plea- 
' saot to ol>serve, that Uie doctrine attributed by Junius 
to LordlViansfield, is adn)itted by Zeno, and directly 
'defended. The Barrister has not the assurance to 
deny it flatly; but he evades the charge, and softens 
■the doctrine, by such pooi- contemptible quibbles as 
'cannot impose upon the meanest understanding. 
' '5to. The quantity of business in the Court of King's 
Bench, proves nothing but the litigious spirit of the 
people, arising from the great increase of wealth and 
commerce. These, however, are now upon the de- 
cline, and will soon leave nothing hwilawndts behind 
them. When Junius affirms, that Lord Mansfield has 
l:\boured to alter the system of jurisprudpnce in the 
Court where his Lord-'hip presides, he speaks to those 
who are aWe to look a little farther than the vulgar. 
'Besides, that the multitude are easily deceived by the 
imposing names of equity and substantial justice^ it 
idoes not follow that a judge, vrho introduces into his 
I:::ourt new modes of proceeding, and new principles of 
''.aw,.iijtPQ^s, ia every iiistance, to decide anJij£Uy- 



•2^ JUNIUS. 

tfhy siiouM he where he has no interest? We say, 
that Lord Mansfield is a bad man^ and a worse judges 
but we do not say that he is a mere devil. 6ur ad- 
versaries would fain reduce us to the difficulty of 
pi'oving too mtich. This artiSce, however, shall not 
avail him. The truth of the matter is plainly this; 
when Lord Mansfield kas succeeded in his scheme of 
changing a court of common law to a court of equity, 
he will have it in his power to do injustice nkenever 
he thinks proper. This, thouo^h a wicked purpose, is 
neither nhsurd nor unattainable. 

(Uo. The last paragraph, relative to Lord Chathamts 
cause, cannot be answered. It partly refers to facts 
of too secret a nature to be ascertained, and partly b 
unintelligible. ** Upon one point the cause is decided 
against Lord Chatliam : upon another point it is de- 
cided for him." Both the law and the language are 
well suited to a Barrister! !f I have any guess at this 
bonest gentleman's meaning, it is, That "whereas the 
commissioners of the great seal saw the question hi a 
point of view unfavourable to Lord Chatham, and de- 
creed accordingly; Lord Mansfield, out of sheer love 
and kindness to Lord Chatham, took the pains to place 
it in a point of view more favourable to the apptllanV 
Credat Jndaiis AptUa. So curious an assertion would 
stagger the faith of Mr. Sylvn. 



LETTER LXIV. 

NovembekS, Mil. 
We are desired to make the following declaratioD, 
in hehalf of Junius, upon three material points, on 

*'whicb his opinions have beeh mistaken or misrepref eat- 

«Bd. 

' Ittu). Junius considers the right of taxing the Colo 
jiies, by an Act of tlie British Legislature, a3 a spuv 
lative riglit merely, never to be exerted, nor ever to 
be renounced. To his judgment it appears plain, 
•' That the general reasonings which were employee' 
against th.at power, went directly to oar whole legis- 
lative right ; and that one part of it could not be 
yielded to such arjTumei)t9, without a vetital surr^ 

'■4. 



auNius. mts 

^Jo. Tha!^, Tvith regard to press-vrariantf!, his argu- 
ments should be taken in his own words.and answered 
6trictl,v ; that comparisons may soir.etimea ilhistratp. 
hut prove notliiiij; and tiiat, in this case, an appeal 
to the passions is unfair, and unnecessary. Junius 
feel8 and acknowledges the evil in the most express 
tern)i«-, and will show himself ready to concur in any 
ratiorsal plan that may provide for the liberty of the 
individual, without hazarding the safety of the com- 
uiunity. At the same time he expects that the evil, 
such as it is, h,e not exaggerated or misrepresented. 
In general, it is not unjust, that, when the rich maa 
contributes his wealth, the poor man aliould serve the 
state in [)erson; otherwise, the latter contributes no- 
thing to the defence of that law and constitution from 
"which he demands safety and protection. But the 
question does not He between the rich and poor. 
I The laws of England make no such distinctions. N«i- 
tlier is it true, that the poor man is torn from the care 
j and support ofa wife and fiimily, helpless withoutlnra. 
I The single question is, Whether the seamen,* in times 
of public danger, shall serve the merchant, or the 
state, in that profession to which he was bred, and hy 
the exercise of which alone, he can honestly support 
himself and his family.^ General arguments against 
ithe doctrine of necessity, and the dangerous use that 
may be made of it, are of no weight in "this particular 
case Necessity inchides the idea of inevitable. 
'Whenever it is so, it creates a law to which all posi- 
iti,ve laws, and all positive rights, must give way. In 
this sente, fh<» 5; vy of ship-money by the King's war- 
rant was not nf?ret:sary, because the businesg might 
have been as well or better done by Parliament. .11 
"the doctjine maintained by Junius be confined within 
this limitation, it will go but a very little way in 
%ipport of arbitrary power. That the King is to 
Sjudge of the occasion, is oo obj^ctioa, unless we are 
told how it can possibly be otherwise. There are 
iother instances, not less important in the exercise^ 
''(Dot less dangerous in the abuse, in which the consti- 
Ijtutlon relies eotirely upon the King's judgment. The 

* / cor/ine myself ttricUif to seamen. Tf any oUurs, pre 
^mff4, it w a grots aJtuse, rjMchtfte m^iittrate can an^ iMxH'd 



;rr-i JUNIUS. 

executive power proclaims war and peace, binds the 
nation by treaties, orders general embargoes, and 
imposes quarantines; not to mention a multitude of 
prerogative writ?, which, though liable to the greatest 
abuses, were never disputed. 

3tio. It has been urged, as a reproach to Junius, 
thai he has not delivered an opinion upon the game 
larva, and particularly the late dog act. But Junius 
thinks he has much greater reason to complain, that 
lie is never aggisted by these who are able to assist 
him: and that almost the whole labour of the' press 
is thrown upon a single hand, from which a discussion 
of every public question is unreasonably expected. 
He is not paid for iiis labour, and certainly has a 
right to choose his employment. As to the game 
laws, he never scrupled to declare his opinion, that 
they are a species of the /oresi lawi: Msat they are 
oppressive to the subject; and that the spirit of thenfi 
is incompatible with legal liberty ; that the penalties 
imposed by tlie»e laws bcp.r no proportion to the na- 
ture of the offence: tliat the mode of trial, and the 
diegree and kind of evidence necessary to convict, 
not only deprive the subject of all the benefits of a 
trial by jury, but are in themselves too summary, and 
to the last degree arbitrary and oppressive: that, ia 
particular, the late acts to prevent dog-stealing, or 
killing game between sun and sun, are distinguished 
by their absurdity, extravagance, and pernicious ten- 
dency. If these terms ai'e weak or ambiguous, in 
what language can Junius express him:=elf? It is noi 
excuse for Lord Mansfield to say, that he happened? 
to be absent when these bills passed the House oP 
Lords. It was his duty, to be present. Such bills, 
could never have passed the House of Commons with-?? 
out his knowledge. But we very well know by what? 
rule he regulates his attendance. When that order^ i! 
was made in the House of Lords, in the case of Lordl 
Pomfret, at which every Englishman shudders, my 
lionest Lord Mansfield found himself, by mere acctdent, 
in the Court of King's Bench, otherwise he would have 
done wonders in defence of law and property I The 
pitiful evasion is ad-^pted to the character. But Ju- 
nius will never justify himself by the example of thiK 
bad jnan.» Th,e distincticn between doircgnrong, an4 



JUNIUS. Tib 

ifjiding to do righi^ belongs to Lord Mansfield. Ju- 
lius disclaims it. 



LETTER XLV. 

To Lord Chief Justice Manajiddt. 

J\'ovf..mbkr2, 17?t. 
At the intercession oflhreeofyour countrymen, you 
.r.ve hailed a man, wIjo, 1 presume, is also a SrMch- 
fia?i, and wiiouj the Lord Mayor of London had re- 
ined to l)ail. I do not nwan to enter into an exami-'* 
alion of the partial sinister niolives of your conduct; 
ut, confining]; myself strictly to the fact, I affirm that 
oil have done tliat wliich by law you wevc not war- 
anted to do. The Uiiof was taken in the theft; the 
:olen goods were found upon hhu, and he made no 
efence. In these circumstances (the truth of which- 
on dare not deny, because it is of public notoriety) 
; could not ?tand iudilTerent whether he was guilty 
r not, much loss ooidd thcMc be any presumption o£ 
IB innocence; and, in these circumstances, I affirm, 
1 contradiction toj'ou, Lord Chief Justice Man?«rield, 
lat, hy the laws of England, he was not bailable. If 
v^er .Mr. Eyre should be brought to trial, we shall 
car what you have to say for yourself; and I pledge 
lyselr, before God and my country, in proper tiiro 
ad place, to make g-ood my cliarge against you. 



LETTER LXVr. 

To the Printer of the Public Advertiser. 

JfoVEMBEK.9, 117 ■. 

Junius engages to make good his ciiarge agai.jsi 
ord Chief Justice MajisfcU, some time before tJie 
eethig of Parliament, in order that the House of 
ammons may, if they thini proper, make it one 
tide in t!l^ impeaciiment of the said Lord Clii^ 



LETTER LXVn. 

7o kis Grace tkc Duke, of Graf ton- 

November 27, 177L 
WnAT is tl'-e reason, my Lord, that, when aluio^ 
:yciy man in the king;dom, without distinction oi 
priii-ciples or party, exults in the ridiculous defeat oi 
?3ir James Lowtlier, when good and bad men unite in 
one common opinion of that baronet, and triumph iu 
his distress, as if the event (n'ithout any reference to 
vice or virtue,) were interesting to human nature, 
your Grace alone should appear so miserably depress- 
ed and afflicted P In such universal joy, I know not 
%vhere you will look for a compliment of condolence, 
unless you appeal to tlie tender, sympathetic sorrows 
of Mr. Bradshaw. That creani-colou'ed gentleman' tJ 
tear.*, afflicting as they are, carry consolation alowg; 
■with them. He never weeps, but like an April 
siiower, with a lambent ray of sunshine upon hisj 
coimtenance. From the feelings of honest men upon 
this joyful occasion, I do not mean to draw any con- 
elusion to your Grace. They naturally rejoice when 
they see a signal instance of tyranny resisted with 
Ruccess, of treachery exposed to the derision of the 
world, an infamous informer defeated, and an impu- 
dent robber dragged to the public gibbet. But in the 
other class of mankind, I own I expect to meet tijc 
Duke of Grafton, Men who had no resard for jus- 
tice, nor any setjse of honour, goein as heartily pleased 
with Sir James Lowther's wejl-dcserved punishment, 
as if it did not constitute an example against them- 
selves. The unliappy baronet has no friend:?, even 
among those who resemble him. Yqu, my Lord, are 
DOt reduced to so deplorable a state of dereliction ; 
every villain in the kingdom is your friend; and ia 
compliment to such amity, i think you should suffet 
your dismal countenance to clear up. Besides, my 
Lord, I am a little an.viotis for the consistency of your 
ciiaracter. You violate your own rules of decorum, 
vilien you do not insult the man you have betrayed. 

The divine justice of retribution seems now to have 
h«gun its progress. Deliberate treachery entails pun- 
isurent :330a the tr&itor. There is no po^^^hiU^y es'i 



■JONIUS. -227 

eacaping it, even in the hini:hest rank to which the 
consent of society can exalt the meanest and worst <if 
men. The forced, unnatural union of Luttrell and 
Middlesex was an omen of another unnatural nnion 
by which indefeasible infamy is attacliedto the Hou?e 
of Brunswick. If one of those acts was virtuous and 
honourable, the best of Princes, I thank God, is hap- 
pily rewarded for it by the other. Your Grace, it 
has been said, had some share in recommending Co- 
lonel Luttrell to tlie King ; or was it only the gentle 
Bradshaw who uiade himself answerable fortiie good 
behaviour of his friend p An intimate connection has 
Ions subsisted between him and the worthy Lordirn- 
ham. It arose from a fortunate similarity of princi- 
ples, cemented by the common mediation of their coirt- 
mon friend INiiss Davis.* 

* Thin is a certain famV)f in this covnfrii, on Tvhicknatiere 
'.seRmsto have eniailcd aii, htrcditari/ baseness of disposilioa. — 
As, far as their kisiorifhas been knoivii, the son has regularh, 
hnprovcd upon the vices nf his fai'ier, and hns taken care to 
transmit them pure und vndiminhhed into the. bosom of his 
successor. In the senate, their abUitics have confined them to 
those humble, son-id services in ivhich the scavangers of the 
■Jirniiftri/ arc us vail jj employed. Bid in the ricvioirs of private 
ireacherii, theji stand first and nnrivalled. Thefolloning story 
iwHl serve to illvstrate the character of Vds respectable J amihj, 
mnd to convince the ivorldthaf the present possessor has as clear 
[]t\title to the infarm/ of his ancestors, as he has to their estate, 
fit deserves to be recorded, Jar the cnriosiii/ of the /'act, and 
^.should be givcH to the ptcblic as a ivarning lo every honest merrr- 
ber of society. 

' The p.-csent Lord Irnham, rjho in norv in the declim of lifis 
'lately cidtivaied the acguaijiic ace if a younger brother of a 
y'annli/ nnfh 7:-kirh he had lived lnsn:ne cLf.gree ef intimacy , and 
^friendship. The young vwn had long been the dupe of a most 
yjinhappy attachment to a common prcUMe. His friends and 
^^elalion.i foresaw the ccnseq-Uences of tJds connection, end did 
eucry -thing that depended vpon them to save him from ruin., 
Buths.kad a friend i.iLord Irnkam, whose advice rendered nli 
Vieir cndeuvours ineffectuoL Tk is hoary letvher, not contrnted 
ii-ith the enjoyment of his friend's mistress, 7vas base euough fo 
\luke advanlngc of the passions and folly of the young man, 
and persuaded hirn to marry her. He descended even to per- 
v*hrmthe office offather to the prosiiivte. He gave her to his 
" ien(l,n'ho roason'the point cf leaving the Jcingdom., and the 
auexitdghi lay v'itk her himself . 

Whela^riht d'^-^ravity of thz-kvanm heart Car>prt}du?'i:e:vj' 

■ : 'Mi.' 



278 JftJ^IirS. 

Yet I confess I should be sorry tliat the opprobrious 
ra[amy of this match should reach beyond the faiivHy 
We have now a belter reason than ever to pray for 
life long life of the l>e8t of Pritices, and tire welfare 
of his royal usve, I will not njix any tininij; oininon-i 
"ith my prayers: but let Parliament look'to it. A 
'Luttreli shall rrever succeed to tiie Crown ofEniriand. 
if the hereditary virtues of the faQjiiy deserve a kiug- 
<5om, Scotland will be a proper retreat for them. 

The next is a most remarkable instance of ttie good- 
Bess of Providence. Tiie just law of retaliation has 
«tlast overtaken the little contemptible tyrant of tlie 
jNorth. To tills sou-ia law of your dearest friend, the 
Karl of Biite, j'ou meant to transfer the Duke of Port- 
land's property ; and yon hastened tlje grant with an 
»>.xpedition unlcnovrn to the Trearnry, tliat lie might 
have it time enough to give a decisive turn to the 
4 lection for the county. The immediate consequence 
ef this flagitious robbery was, tliat he lost the election 
^hichyou ineant to insure bim, and with such signal 
tiicunistances of scorn, reproach, and insult (to say 
.j»Othin^ of the general exaltation of all parties) agJ 
incepting the Kin^'shrother- in-law, Colonel Lnttrell, 
and old Simon, hiafather-jn-law) hardly ever fell upon 
<i gentleman in tliis country. In the event, he loses 
the very property of Avliich he thonjrhthe had gotten 
possession, and after an expense wliich would have 
paid the value of the land in question twenty times 
over. The forms of villany, yon see, are necessary 
to it3 success. Hereafter you will act with greater 
^■ircumspection, and not drive so directly to your ob- 
ject. l"o snatch a grace heyond the reach of comnioa 
t.'eachery, is an exception, not a rule. 

And now, my good Loi d, does not your conscious 
Jieart inform you, that the Justice of retribntion btr- ■ 
,uins tp operate, aud that it may soon approach you* ' 
i">er8on ? Do you think that Junius has renounced the ' 
Middlesex election?* or that the King's timber sliaH ' 
he refused to the Royal Navy with impuriity? oir 
tliat you shall hear no more of the sale of that patent 
to Mr. Hine, which you endeavoured to screen, by 
aiiddenly dropping your prosecution of Samuel Vaug- 

■^hingmoTe base and detestable than this/act, must be left tlr^ 
'tietemined, ua|;7 tftc cm sMl ffWfr? at ^9 fQUtifs Bge eXti 



3U.\!tlS. 27.9 

jiuu, wlifiD tilt' rule against him wr.s made ati^oiule? f 
itbelieve, indeed, tliBrpnevfr was such an instance jn 
'\,iiU the history of negative inipiulence. But it shall 
ufiot save yon. The very sunshine yon live in is a pre- 
ii\de toyonf dissolution. When you are lipe you shall 
pepUicketi. JUNIUS. 

' PS, i be; yon will convpyta your Gracious Ma? 
iler my humble conf^ratulations opon the glorious sue* 
:;ess of peerages and pensions so lavishly difitribiitetl 
•jis Ihc rewards of Irish virtue. 



i 1-RTTEil LXVUL 

To Lord Chkf Justkc Mansjidi. 

j ■ • .Tandary 2;, i::.: 

^ ! !!AVE nndertaken to prove, that when, at the in 
,,<:rcession of three of yoor conntrymen, you hailed 
\fohn Eyre, j-^ou did that n/n'c/i by la>v you n'cre not 
.^parraiUed to do y and that a felon, nnder the circnm- 
:.4tauces o/fceijig taken in the fact, miih the stolen goof la 
yijjon him, andmakhii^ no defence, isnot bailable by tiie 
,awg of England. Vour learned advocates have in- 
terpreted this charge into a denial, that the Court of 
[King's Bench or tlfe Judges of that Court, during: the. 
ivacation, have any greater authority to bail forcrim- 
-nal offences than ajuptice of peace. ^ With the instance 
;)efore rae, I am supposed to question your power of 
loing wronr, and to deny the existence of a power, 
.it the same moment that I arraign the illegal exercise 
^/it. ^ But the opinions of such men, whether wilfnl 
iii their malignity, or viocere in their ignorance, ari> 
,mworthy of" my notice. Yon, Lord Mansfield, did 
ijiot understand me so,- and I promise you, your cause 
iiCquires an abler defence. I am now to make good 
■fly charge against you. However dull my argument. 
[be subject of jt is interesting. I shall be honoured 
jnth the attention of the public, and have a riglit in 
Ibmand the attention of the legislature. Supported, 
)t8 I-am, by the whole body of the criminal law of 
J^Dgland, 1 have no doubt of establishing my char«r. , 
^'ori your pait, yoO shall ha 7 a no plain substantial ' 



28^ dUNlU^. 

defence, but should endeavour to shelter yourself tin- 
der tlje quirk and evasion of a practising lawyer, cr 
under the mere insiiUirjg assertion of power, without 
right, the reputation you pretend to is gone for ever: 
you stand degraded from the respect and authority of 
your office, and are no longer, dt jure, Lord Ciiicl 
Justice of England. 
This letter, my Lord, is addressed notfo much to you 
as to the public. Learned as you are, and quick in 
apprehension, few arguments are necessary to satii^fy 
you, that you liave done that, which, by law, you 
were not warranted to do. Your confcience already 
tells you, that you have sinned against knowlcdj^f, 
and that, whatever defence you make, contradicts 
your own interna! conviction. But other men are 
willing enough to tulce the law upon trust. They rily 
upon your authority, because tiiey are too indolent 
to search for in for run lion .- or, conceiving that there 
i's some mystery in the la^-s of their country, which 
lawyers are only qualified to explain, thej' distru?t 
iheir judgment, and voluntarily renounce the right 
of thinking for themselves. With all the evidence of 
history f>efore theiu, from Trerllianio JefferieSy from 
Jeffcrics to Mamfi^^ld, they will not believe itpossible 
ihat a learned judge can act in direct contradiction to 
thosv^ laws, which he is supposed to have made the 
study of his life, and which he has swori; to adminis- 
ter f iithfuliy. Superstition is certainly not the e!ra- 
racteristic of this age; yet soiue men are bigottcd in 
politics, who are infidels in rcRgion. I do not despair, 
of making thera ashamed of thplr credulity. 

Tlie charge I brought against you is expres^eu iu 
termsguardedand well considered. I'hey do notdeny 
the strict power of the Judges of the Court of King's 
Bench to bail in casps not bailable by a justice of 
peace, nor replevisnble by the common writ, or ex ojjl. 
f.io, by the Sheriff. I well knoAv thp practice of the 
•tourt, and by what legal rule? it oughttobt; directed. 
But, far from meaning to soften or dlmi.iish the force 
of those terms I have made use of, f now go beyond 
thern, and affirm, 

I. That the superior powpr of bailing for felony, 
x-laimedby ihe Court of King's Bench, is founded upof\ 
.tl\e*opinion of lawyers, and thp in'ftctice of the Court^ 
that iUe assent of the h>;,ijLit{f6e to tht? po^t'v i* 



JvUKiUa 281 

merely negative, and that it is not supported by any 

positive provision in any statute whatsoever. If it be, 

procliice the statute. 

II. Admitting that tlie Judges of the Court of 

King's Bench are vested with a discretionary power 
, to examine and judge of circumstances and allegations 

which a justice of peace is not permitted to consider. 

I affirm that the judges, in tlie nue and application of 

that discretionary power, are asstrictly bound by the 

s;pirit, intent, and meaning, as the justice of peace is 
; by tlie words of the lesjislature. Favourable circiim- 

Etances, alleged before the judge, may justify a doubt 

^vhetllcr the pii^onnr beguilty or not: and where the 

guilt is doubtful, a presumption of innocence should in 
, general be adir.itled. But, when any such probable 
'circumstances are alleged, they alter the state and 
j condition of the prisoner. He is no longer ihAtali-but 
",^ convicted felon, whom the law intends, and who by 
ij law is not bailable at all. If no circumstances wlrat- 
. soever are alleged ia his favour; if no allegation 

nhatsoever be made to lessen the force of that evi- 
j dence which the law annexes to a positive charge of 
, felony, and particularly to the f^icto^ baing taken with 

the mancr j I then say, that the Lord Chief Justice of 
■| England has no more right to bail him than a justice 

. oi' peace. The discretion of an English judge is not 
. of mere.will nnd pleasure; it is not arbitrary; it is not 

capricious; but, as that great lawyer (wliose authori- 
, ty I ■w'ish you rcipectod half as much as 1 do) truly 
. s.jys,* " Dii^cretioH, taken as it ought to be, is, discer- 

3}tre per legem quid sitjustum If it be »ot directed 
,, by the riglitlineof the law, it is a crooked cord, and 
,'! oppeareth to be unlawful." If discretion werearbitra- 
,, ly in the judge, he might introduce wliatspever no- 
j, vf'ltie? he thougiit proper. But, says Lord. Coke, 
" Novelties, without warrant of precedents, are not to 

; be allowed j some certain rules aie not to be followed ; 

! Quicqiiii judicis authoritati subjicitury novitati wm 
, subjicitur ;''' and thi:J sound doctrine is applied to the 
;. star chamber, a court confessedly arbitrary. If yoii 

1 %v;il abide by the antiiority of this great man, you 
shall have all the advantage of his opinion, wherever 

!, it jrppcarg to favour you. Excepting the plaip,exfre9e 

, ^ ^ 4 Xtot. 41. 66| 



'M 3.UNIUS, 

nieaning of the legislature, to which all private opi. 
nions must give way I desire no better judge betweea 
Us than Lord Coke. 

ill. I affirm that, according to the obvious, indis- 
putable meaning of the legislature, repeatedly ei- 
pres.-ed, a person positively charged with feloniously 
slealingy and taken in flagrante delidOy with the sto- 
len goods upon him, is not bailable. The law consi- 
ders him as differing in nothing from a convict, but in 
the form of conviction ; and (whatever a corrupt 
judge may do) will accept of no security, hut the 
confinement of his body within four walls. 1 know iit 
has been alleged, in your favour, that you have often, 
bailed for murders, rapes, and other manifest crimes.^' 
Without questiorting the fact, I shall not admit that'. 
you are to be justified by your own example. If tiiat" 
were a protection lo you, where is the crime, that,a3 
a judge, you might not now securely commit.'^ But., 
neither shall 1 suffer myself to be drawn aside from 
lay present argument, nor you to profit by your own 
wrong. To prove the meaning and intent of the le- 
gislature, will require a minute and tedious deduc- 
tion To investigate a question of law demands 
some labour and attention, though very little genius 
or sagacity. As a practical profession, the study of 
the law requires but a moderate portion of abilities." 
The learning of a pleader i« usually upon a level witli 
his integrity. The indiscriminate defence of right 
and wrong contracts the understanding, w hile it cor- 
rupts the heart. Subtllty is soon mistaken for wis- 
dom, and impunity for virtue. If there be any in- 
stances upon record, as some there are undoubtedly, 
of genius and morality united in a lawyer, they are' 
distinguished by tlieir singularity, and operate as e|;- 
ceptions. 

1 must solicit the patience of my readers. This is 
no light matter; nor is it any more susceptible of or--, 
nament, than the conduct of Lord Mansfield is capable 
pf aggravation. 

As the law of bail, in charges of felony, has been 
exactly ascertained by acts of the legislature, it is at 
present of little consequence to inquire how it stood 
at common law before the statute of Westminster. 
And yret it is worth the reader's attention to obsecv<^ 
how nc<irly, m t^e ideas of our ance<t6rsj the circttav 



s£ance of being taken ivitk the maiur approached to 
t\\e couvjctiou* of the felon. It "fixed the aiithori- 
'tritive stamp of verisimilitude upon the accusation ; 
a»d, bv the common law, when a thief was takea 
ivith themaner, that i?, with the things stolen iipoij 
him in maim., he mrglit, so detected, flagrante delicto, 
be brotiffht into court, arraigned, and tried, Ti'iV/iOUi 
indictment : as bv the Danish law, he might be t;iken 
I aijd hanged on the spot, without accusation or trial." 
I It will goon appear that our statute law, in this be- 
half, thouiih lens euininary in point of proceeding, h 
directed by the same spirit. In one instance, the 
very Conn is adhered to. In offences relating to the 
fjrc.st, if a man was taken with vert, or venison, f it 
was declared to be equivalent to indictment. To 
enable the reader to judge for himself, I s^hall state, 
in due order, the several statutes relative to bail in 
criminal cases, or as much of them as may be mate- 
rial to the point in question, omitting superfluous 
words. If I misrepresent, or do not quote with fide- 
lity, it will not be difficult to detect me. 

I The statute of Westminster the flrst, in 1375, set* 
fbrtli, that "Forasmuch as sherifTs and others, wha 
have taken and kept in prison, persons detected of fe- 
lony and iocontinent, have let out by replevin suclj 
as were not rephvhable, because they would gain of 
the one party, and grieve the otlier; and forasmuch 
as, before this time, it was not determined which 
persons were replevisable, and which not; it is pro- 
rided, and by the King commanded, that such pri- 
soners, &c. as be taken mtk the numer, &c. or for ma- 
nifest offences, shall be in nowise replevisable by the- 
common writ, nor without writ." Lord Coke§ in his 

* BIncJcstone, W^3G3. 

fl Ed. in. cap. 8 and 7 Rich. II. cap. 4, 

\ '♦ Vldctur qw h statute de mainprise n'est que rekersal del 
COnrmon ley.'''' — Bro. Mainp. 61. 

\ " There are three points to be considered in the coO" 
BtructioDof all remeflial statutes; the old law, the mischief, 
and the remedy; that is, how the common law stood at the 
making of the act; what the mischief was for which the 
common law ilid not provide; and wh^t remedy the PaHia- 
HJent hath provided to cure this mischief. It is the husine^ 
•f the judges go to construe the act, as to suppress tfCfe 
^trtf5^B?ef>aa«lsdT^ce jji» ^^sipedy.'W^fqmfroir) h 37. 



284 ■aiNUlS. 

exposition of the last part of this quotation, aceu 
rateJy distinguishes between replevy, by the common 
writ, or ex officio, and bail by the Kind's Bench. The 
words of the statute certainly do not extend tu the 
judges of that court. But, beside that, the reader 
will soon find reason to think that the legisktnre, in 
their intention, made no difference between bailable] 
and replevisable Lord Colce lilmself, if he be under- 
stood to mean nothing but an exposition of tlie sta-| 
tute of Westminster, and not to state the law gene- 
rally, does not adhere to his own distinction. In ex- 
pounding the other offences, which, by this statute, 
are declared not replei-i sable, he constantly uses the 
words not bailable. "That outlaws, for instance, are 
7wt bailable at all.- that persons who have abjured the 
realm, are attainted upon theii- own confession, and 
therefore not bailable at all by law : that proveis are 
not bailable, that notorious felons are not bailable.''^ 
The reasen why the superior courts wvie not named 
in the statute of Westminster, was plainly this, " be- 
cause anciently most of the business touching bail- 
ment of prisoners for felony or misdemeanors, was 
performed by the sheriffs, or special hailiffis of li- 
berties, either by writ, or virtutc officii;''^* conse- 
quently the superior courts had little or no opportu- 
nity to commit those abuses which the statute im- 
putes to the sheriffs. With submission to Dr. Clark- 
stone, I think he has fallen into a contradiction, 
which, in terms at least, appears irreconcileable. Al- 
ter enumerating several ofTences not bailable, he as- 
serts, without any condition or limitation whatso- 
ever, f " All these are clearly not admissible to bail." 
Yet, in a few lines after, he says, " It is agreed that 
the Court of King's Bench may bail for any crime 
whatsoever, accordhig to the circumstances of the 
c&se." To his first proposition he should have added, 
by sheriffs or justices ; otherwise the two proposillPns 
contradict each other: with this difft^rence, however^ 
that the first is absolute, the second limitedby a con- 
sideration of circumstances. 1 say thi", without the 
least intended disrespect to the learned author. Hisf 
work is of public utility, and should not haslilv be 
condemned. 

*S Hale, P. C. 128. 136. 

■t BlackstoM, iv. '^ 



JUNIUS. M 

' Ti.eftatnte of 17 Richard U. cap. 10, 13D3, sets 
fortii, that, "ForaP!nuch 33 thieves notoriously de- 
hm<>d, <md others taken rvilh the maner, by their long 
abidin* in prison, were delivered by charters and 
Tavourable inquests procured, to the great hindrance 
of the people, two men of law shall be assigned, in 
every commission of the peace, to proceed to tlie de- 
liverance of such felon:?," &c. It seems, by this act, 
;that there was a constant struggle between the legis- 
lature and the officers of justice Not daring to ad- 
mit felons taken with the mantr to bail or mainprise^ 
;they evaded the law, by keeping the party in prison 
a long time, and then delivering him without due 
trial. 

■ The statute of 1 Richard III. in 1483, sets forth, that, 
*' Forasmuch as divers persons have been daily ar- 
rested and imprisoned for suspicion of felony, some- 
.times of malice, and sometimes of a light susipicion, and 
so kept in prison without bail or mainprise; be it or- 
dained, that every justice of peace shall have autho- 
rity, by his discretion, to let such prisoners and per- 
sons so arrested to bail or mainprise." By this act 
it appears, that there had been abuses in m3tter of 
imprisonment, and that the legislature meant to pro- 
vide for the immediate enlargement of persons ar- 
rested on light suspicion of felony. 

The statute of 3 Henry VII. in 1486, declares, that 
under colour of the preceding act of Richard the 
Third, " Persons, such as nere ruot mainpernable, were 
' oftentimes let to biiil or mainprise by justices of the 
peace, whereby many murderers and felons escaped ; 
the King, &c. hath ordained, that the justices of the 
'pence, or two of them at least (whereof one to be of 
"the quorum) have authority to let any such prisoners 
or persons, mainpernable by the law, to bail or main- 
prise." 

The statute of 1 and 2 of Philip and Mary, in 1554, 
i-eets forth, that, " Notwithsliandiug the preceding 
statute of Henry the Seventh, o?ie justice of peace 
ihath oftentimes, by sinister labour and means, set at 
'large the greatest and nolablest offenders, suck as hc^ 
' not replcvisable by the latvs of this realm; and yet, the 
rather to hide their affections in that behalf, have as- 
signed the cause of their apprehension to be but only 
S^T snsiicion of fdony, whereby the said, offeaderf 



2tS JUNIUS. 

have escaped unpunished, and do daily, to tlje fiiffh 
displeasure of Almighty God, the great peril of the 
King and Queen's true suhject?, and cncoiirage- 
inent of all thieves and evil-doers; for reformation 
thereof be it enacted, that no justices of peace shall 
let to hail or nialnpris^e any such persons, u'i)ich for 
any offi-nce by them comuutted, be declared 7iot to be 
repkvised, or bailed, or be forbidden to be rcplevis- 
ed, or bailed, by the statute of Westminster tlie first ; 
and furthermore, tliat any persons arrested for inan- 
slfiughter or felony, being bailable by the Ian.', i;\]:\\\ not 
be let to bail or mainprise by any '^j.ist ices of peace, 
but in the form tlierein after prescribed." Iathet\^''0 
preceding statutes, the words bailubl?., replcvisable^ 
and mainpernable, are used synonim'-usly,* or pro- 
miscuously, to express the same single iutmtion of 
the legislature, viz, not to accept of any security but 
ike body of the offender : and when the latter statute 
prescribes the fonu in which persons arretted on sus- 
]ncion of felony {being bailable by the lav) may be let 
10 bail, it evidently supposes that there are some 
cases not bailable by the law. It may be thought, 
perhaps, that I attiihute to thelpgislature an appear- 
ance of inaccuracy in the use of terms merely to 
serve my present purpose. But, in trul!), it would 
make more forcibly for my argument, to presume, 
that the looi'-lature were constantly aware of the 
strict legal distinction between bail and replevy, and 
that they always meant to adhere to il.f For if it 
be true that replevy is by the sherifT:', and bailhy the 
higher courts at Westminster, (whicii I think no law- 
yer will deny) it follows, that when the legislature 
expressly say, that any particular offence is by law 
7iot bailable, the superior courts are comprehended in 
the prohibition, and bound by it. Otherwise, unless • 
there was a positive excejUion of the superior courts 
(which I affirm there never was in any statute rela- 
tive to bail) the legislature would grossly contratUct 
themselve?, and the manirest intention of the law be 
evaded. It is an established rule, that when the law is 
■special, and reason of it general, it is to be gentrallif 

*2 JJfl?e,P. C. ii. 124. 

t Vide 2d Inst. 150, 185, " The word replcvisab'e never 
signifies bailable. Bailable is. in a court of record, by the 
King's Justices ; but repkvisabk is by the SLerijX"— i'ei^rt, 
State Trials, vii- H?. 



JUNIUS. -287 

iidersloocl ; and though by custom a lalitnde. b* al- 
jwed to the Court oi king's Bench (to consider ciT- 
iiiastaDces inductive of a doubt, wliether the pnson- 
r be guilty or innocent) if this latitude be taken as 
n arbitrary power to bail, when no circumstances 
.whatsoever arc alleged in favour of tlie prisoner, it is 

po\ver without right, and a daring violation of the 
rhole English law of bail. , . _ . , 

The act of the Slst of Charles the Second (com- 
lonly called the Habeas Corpus Act) particularly de- 
lares, that it is not meant to extend to treason or fe- 
pny, plainly and specially expressed rn the warrant 
rf eommitraent. Ube prisoner is therefore left to seek 
M8 Krtiew t'o/TJtiS at common law, and so far was 
he leo-islature from ?upposins tliat persons (cfjtnmit- 
cd for treason or felony, plainly and specially ex- 
trc'^'^ed in the warrant of commitment) could be let 
o bail by a single judge, or by the whole court, thaf 
his very act provides a reraedyfor such persons, in 
:ase thev are not indicted in the course of the terna 
n- session siibBcqncnt to their commitment. The Jaw 
leither suffers them to be enlarged before trial, nor to 
)e imprisoned after the time in whicii they ought re- 
rularly to be tried. In this case, the law says, ''It 
i'hall and may be lawful to and for the judges of the 
Court of King's Bench, and justices of oyer and ter- 
miner, or general gaol delivery, and they are hereby 
required, upon motion made to them in open court, 
Lhe last day of the terra, session, or gaol delivery, ei- 
ther by the prisoner, or any one in hia behalf, to set 
it liberty the prisoner upon bail, unless it appear to 
the judges and justices, upon oath made, that the 
witnesses for the King could not be produced the 
same term, sessions, or gaol delivery." Upon the 
whole o{ this article, I observe, 1. That the provision 
made in the first part of it would be, in a great mea- 
gre, Ht?eles8 and nugatory, if any single judge might 
bave bailed the prisoner ex arbitrio during the vaca- 
tion; or if the court might have bailed him immedi- 
ately after tlie commencement of the term or sessions. 
2, When the law says, Jt shall and may be larvful to 
bail for felony under particular circumstances, we 
iwjstpresum*; that, before the passing of that act, it 
uras notlawfuUo bail under those citcurnstance?. The 
Iterms used by the legislature are <nact{ng not diclara- 
tori/. 3. jXotwithstaading the partv may have t)een 



2^3 JtfNIUS. 

iinprifioned during iiie greatest part of the Vacatio.; 
'<*n^ during the wkole session, the court are expressl 
forbidden to bail him, from that session to the neyi 
if oath be,rnade that the vritnesses for the King coul 
not be produced that same term or sessions. 

Having faithfully stated the several acts of Parlia 
merit relative to bail in criminal cases, it may he «J»e 
fui to the reader to take a short historical review o 
the law of bail, through its various gradations anc 
improvements. 

By the ancient common law. before and since ihi 
conqi est, all felonies were bailable, till murder wa: 
excepted by statute; so that persons n»ight be admit 
^d to bail, before conviction, almost in erery case.— 
The /«tstutr of W estminstersays, thatbofore that time. 
it h id not been d( termined vvhi; h off.-nces were re 
plevisahle, and which were not, whether by the com 
mon writ de fwmiyie repUgiando, or ex officio by the 
sheriff. It is very remarkable, that the abuses arising 
from this unlimited power of replevy, dreadful as tiiey 
were, and destructive to the peace of society, were 
not corre.-ted or taken notice of by the legislature, 
until the Commons of the kingdom had obtain d a 
share in it by their representatives; but the House of 
Commons had scarce begun to exint, ivhentheiC formi- 
dable abuses were corrected by the statute of West- 
minster. It is highly probable that the mischief hud 
been severely felt by the people, although no remedy 
Iiad been provided for it by the iNorman kings or ba- 
rons. " I'he* iniquity of the times was so great, as 
it even forced the subjects lo forego that, which was 
in account a great liberty, to stop the course of a growr- 
m^ mischieP." The preamble ot the statute.*! made by 
thefirst parliament of Edward the First, assigns the 
reason of calling it,f "because the people had been 
other wis-e entreated than they ought to be, the peace 
less kept, the laws less w&eA, ^nH offenders Ust^unishti 
than they ought to be, by reason whereof the r.eoule 
feared less to offend;" and the first attera-l to refjroi 
the various abuses, was by contracting the power of 
renlevying felons. 

For above two centuries following, it does not nppear 
that any alteration was made iu the law of bail, et- 

*)ieJdeO; hy K^iJaQM, l,^. f Pariiauaeatarj Hut<»rf , U ^k 



J0NIU9:. ^ 

•pt that bein;; taken with vert or venison was declar- 

1 to be equivalent to indictment. The legislatjirc 
I4hei:cd firmly to the spirit of the statute of westmin- 
iteiv The statute of the 27th of Edward the First 
jitirects the joFticesof as«ize to inquire and punish offl- 

i~s bailing such as were not bailable. As for the 
^1 dges of tije superior court?, it is probable that ia 
l)-jose days they thought thenfi?elves bound by the ol)- 
|)iou8 intent and meaning of the legislature- They 
jEonsidered not somuch to what particular persons the 

lohibition was addressed, as what the thing was 
|i/hich the legislature meant to prohibit; weli know- 
jtag that in law, quando aliquid prohibetur,prohibetur 
III omne, per qiwd devetiitur^ad illud. " When any 
-hing ts torbiuden, all the means by which the same 
ihing may be compassed or done are equally forbid- 
sien." 

s Py the statute of Richard the Third, the power of 
jijailing was a little enlarged: every justice «f th^ 
"ocace was authorized to bail for feiony ; but they 
{'fere expressly confined to persons arretted on light 
YMspifion: and even this power, so limited, was found 
xo produce such inconveniences, that in three years 
Bifterthe legi?lature found it necefsary to rejieal it.— - 
jinstead of trusting any longer to g smgle justice of 
iifjeace, the act of 3 Henry Vil. repeals tlie preceding 
tiict, aud directs, " That no prisoner (qf those who ar^ 
maivpernable by the law) shall be let to bail or main- 
^Isrise by less than twa justices, whereof one to be of 
(the quorum.'* 

ii Aud so indispensably necessary was this provisioa 
lilhought for the adminislratiua o( justice, and for the 
leecurity and peaceof .society, that at this time an oath 
jwas proposed by the Ki.jg, to be taken by the knights 
i,aud esquires ot his household, by the members of the 
House of Commons, and by the peers spiritual and 
iemiJOi-al, and accepted and sworn to quasi urui voce by 
iWieui all, which among otiierfcug,agements, binds them 
))Bot to let any man to bail or muinprise, ** icnowine 
cand deeming him to be a felon, upon your honour and 
morsliip. So help yon God and all saints."* 

In about half a century, however, even tlieie pro- 

Viwns were found insufficient. The act of Ben <y 

V Pefr!i(tr'!ntctry Btsicr^i, ft 4j?; 



296 ItJNiUS. 

the Seventh was evaded, and the leglslalure once rtior 
obliged to interpose. The act of 1 and 2 of Philii 
and Mary takes away entirely from tlie justices al 
po\ver of bailing for offences declared not bailable b) 
the statute of Westminster. 

The illegal imprisonment of several persons, who hac, 
refused to contribute to a loan exacted by Charles th: 
First, and the delay of the Habeas Co7-pus, and suhse 
quent refusal to bail them, constituted one of the firsl 
and most important grievances of that reign. Yei 
when the Hon?e of Commons, which met in the yeat 
1628, resolved upon measures of the most firm and 
strenuous resistance to the power of imprisonment 
assumed by the King or privy council, and to the re- 
fusal to bail the party on the return of the Habeas Cor- 
2rus, tliey did expressly, in all their resolutions, make 
an exception of commitments, wherje the cause of the 
restraint was expressed, and did by law Justify the 
commitment. The reason of the distinction is, thai 
whereas, when the cause of commitment is expressed! 
the crime is then known, and the offender must be 
brought to the ordinary trial; if, on the contrary, no 
cause ofcommitment be expressed, and the prisoner be 
thereupon remanded, it may operate to perpetual im- 
prisonment. This contest with Charles the First 
producedtheact of the IBlh of that King; by which 
the Court of King's Bench are directed, within three 
days after the return to the Habeas Corptis to exnramc: 
and determine the legality of any commitment by the 
King or privy council, and to do nhat injustice sh(^l 
appertain, in delivering, bailing, or ronanding the 
prisoner. Now, it seems, it isunuecessarV for tlie 
judge to do what appertains to justiM?: . The same 
scandalous traffick, in which we liaveseeu the privi- 
lege of Parliament exerted or relaxed, to gratify tjie 
present humour, or to serve the immediate purpose of 
the Crown, is introduced into the administration of 
justice. The magistrate, it seems, has now no rule to 
follow, but the dictates of personal enmity, national 
partiality, or perhaps the most prostituted corrup- 
tion. 

Tocomplete this historical inquiry, it only remains 
to be observed, th^t the Habeas Corpus act of 31 of 
Charles the Second, so justly considered as anotfit* 



JTJNIUS. 291 

VMagna Charta of the kingdom, " <>xtend3* only to 
■the case of commilments for such criminal ciiarge as 
can produce no inconvenience to public justice by a 
temporary enlargement of the prisoner." So careful 
were the legislature, at the very moment when they 
' were providing for the liberty of the subject, not to 
furnish any colour or pretence for violating or evad- 
ing tlje established law of bail in the higher criminal 
ofFenccs. But the exception, stated in the body of the 
act, puts the matter out of all doubt. After directing 
the judges how they are to proceed to the discharge 
' of the prisoner upon recognizance and surety, having 
' regard to the quality of the prisoner, and nature of 
' the offence, it is expressly added, "unless it shall ap- 
; pear to the said Lord Chancellor, &c. that the party 
so committed is detained for such matters or offences, 
for tlie whic!), by the law, the prisoner is not bailable. 

^Vlien the laws, plain of themselves, ane thus illus- 
trated by facts, and their uniform meaning established 
by history, we do not want the authority of opinions, 
however respectable, to inform our jiulgmcnt, or to 
confiim our belief. But 1 am determined, that you 
shall have no escape. Authority of every sort shall 
be produced against you, from Jaco!) to Lord Coke, 
from the dictionary to the classic. In vain shall you 
appeal from those upright judges whom you disdain to 
imitate, to those whom you have made your example. 
With one voice they all condemn you. 

" To be taken with the woner, is where a thief, ha- 
ving stolen anything, is taken with the same about 
hiin, as it were in his hands, which is called flagraixie 
delicto. Such a criminal is not bailable by la7v. — Ja- 
cob, under the word Maner. 

" Those who are taken with the mantr are exclud- 
ed by the statute of Westminster, from the benefit of 
a replevin." — Hawkins, P. C. ii. G8. 

" or such heinous offences, no one, who is notori- 
ously guilty, seems to be bailable by the intent of this 
statute."— i)r»a, ii. 99. 

" The common practice and allowed general rule 
is, that hail is only then proper, where it stands indi/- 
ferent whether the party weie guiltv or innocent." — 
Vifto, dlt(o> 



" There is no doubt but that the baniriiEr of a pe 
Mo i% not bailable by Law, is punishable either at 
men law, as a negligent escape, or as an ofS'nce aj 
the several st^itiites relative to bail."— i7i«o, 80 
*' It cannot be doubted, but that neither the ji 
of this, nor of any other superior court of juslic( 
strictly within the purview of that statute j yet 
will always, in their discretion, pay a due rega 
it, and not admit a person to b-.il who is expi 
declared by it irreplevisable, tvithout some parti 
circumstance in his favour ^ and, therefore, it ; 
difncultto find an instance where persons, attain; 
felony, or notoriously guilty of treason, or raansl; 
ter, &c. by their own confession, or othen^yise, 
been admitted to the benefit of bail, without 
speci-.i I motive to the court to grant it." — Ditto 
" Jf it appears that any man hath injury or v 
by his imprisonment, we have power to delivp 
discharge him; if otherwise, ke w to be rcmayidi 
us to prison again."— L(»-(i ChJ. Hyde, State 7 
vii. 115. 

" The statute of Westminster was especiall 
direction to the Sheriffs and others; but to say c 
of jtistice are excluded from this statute, 1 conre 
cannot be." — Attorney General Heathy ditto, 132 
" The court, upon view of the return, jtidj^eih < 
sufficiency or insufficiency of it. If they thin 
prisoner in law to be baibahlt, he is committed t 
Marshal, and bailed; if notheisrenianded." Thi 
the whole debate, the objection, on the part of th 
eoners was, that no cause of commitment was ex 
ed in the warrant; but it was uniformly admittf 
their counsel, that, if the cause of commitmen 
been expressed for treason or fiplony, the court i 
th»'n have done right in remanding them. 

The Attorney General having urged, before a 
mittee of both Houses, that, in Beckwith's cas< 
others,. the Lords of the Council sent a letter 1 
Court of King's Bench to bail; it was replied, 1 
managers of the House of Commons, that this ■ 
no moment; ** for that either the prisoner was 
hie by the law or not bailable. If bailable by th 
then he was to be bailed without any such let 
not bailable by the law, then plainly the judges 
not have bailed bim i>pon tUe letter, without I 



JUNfUS. M 

eir oath, which is, that they are to do justice according 
elanu'''' &c.—State Trials, x'li. ^15. 
So that in bailine; upon such offences of the highest na- 
, a kind of discretion, rather than a constant law, hath 
exercised, T»'hen It stands waolh/ indifferent, in the eye 
3 court, whether the prisoner by guilty or not."— 6'ei , 
t. Tr. vii. 23v0.3l. 

eny that a man is always bailable when imprisonment 
iposed upon him for custody ."—Atlorneti General Hcatk, 
. 238. 

;y these quotations from the State Trial?, though other- 
ise not of authority, it appears plainly, that in resarti to 
jUablc or not bailable, all parties agreed in admitting one 
roposition as incontrovertible. 

" In relation to capital offences, there are especially- 
lese 'cts of Parliament that are the common landmarks,'*- 
3 'ching offences bailable or not bailable.'' — Hale, ii. P. C. 
} . The enumeration includes the several acts cited in 
paper. 

i^ersons taken Trith the maimnvre are not bailable, be- 

use it Ufurtum mani/'esturr!.'"--Halk, ii. P. C. 133. 

" The writ of Habeas Corpui, is of a high nature; for jf 

-rsoiis be wrongfully committed, they are to be discharged 

on this writ returned ; or, if bailable they are to be bail- 

.»; i/ 7iot bailable, they are to be committed.'" — Hale, ii. 

C. 143. This doctrine of Lord Chief Justice Hale re- 

immediately to the superior courts from whence the 

issues. " After the return is filed, the court is either 

icharge, or bail, or commit him, as the nature of the case 

'resr— Hale, ii. P. C. 146. 

!' bail be granted otherwise than the law alloweih, the 
that alloweth the same shall be fined, imprisoned, 
er damages, or forfeit his place, as the case shall re- 
. e." — Selden, by N. Bacon, 182. 

; his induces an absolute necessity of expressing, upon 
H..,ry commitmeut, the rea.son for which it is made ; that 
Be court, upon a Habeas Corpus, may examine into its \a- 
^.ity, and according to the circumitancrs of the case, may 
'."Charge, admit to bail, or remand the prisoner."— JS/acfc- 
■oy, iii. 133. 

'" >larrJot was committed for forging endorsements upon 
ink-bille, and upon a Habeas Corpus was bailed, because 
IB crime was only a great misdemeanor; for though the 
>rging the bills be felony, yet forging the endorsement is 
v't." — Salksid, i, 104. 

! A.ppell de Mahem, &c. ideo ne fiiit lesse a baiHe, nient 
[u. lue in appeil de robbery ou murder; quod nota, et que 

' has HtAthi stvdy 6f tbr^ Manffidd to remove toi«f- 



294 JUNIUS. 

in robbery et murder le partie n'est baHlIable>%-Jlf 

Mainprise, 67. 

" The intendment of the law in bails is, Quod stat indi 
fereiUer, whether he be guilty or no ; but when he is eo 
victed by verdict or confession, then he must be deeoK 
in law to be guilty of the felony, and therefore not bailab 
at aIU'—Coke,i\. Inst. 188. iv. 178. 
: *' Bail is qwindo stat indiff'erenter, and not when tite o 
fence is open and manifest."— 2. Inst. 189 

" In this case non stat indiff'erenter, whether he be guilt 
or no, being taken with the mnncr, that is, with the tbii 
Stolen, as it-\vere in his hand."— £>i«o, ditto. 

♦» If it appeareth that this imprisonment be just, and la^ 
ful, he shall be revmnded to the farmer gaoler; but if 
shall appear to the court that he was imprisoned again: 
the law of the land, they ought, by force of this statute', i 
deliver him ; if it be doubtful, and under consideration, i 
may be bailed "—2 Inst. 55. 

It is unnecessary to load the reader with any farth« 
quotations. If these authorities are not deemed sufficiei 
to establish the doctrine maintained in this paper, it "will \ 
in vain to appeal to the evidence of law books, or the op 
nions of judges. They are not the authorities hy whi>: 
Lord MausReld will abide. He assumes an arbitrary pow< 
of doing right; and if he does wrong, it lies only betivee 
<j0d and his own conscience. 

Now, my Lord, although I have great faith in theprti 
ceding argument, I will not say that every minute part i 
jt is absolutely invulnerable. I am too well acnuainte 
■with the practice of a certain court directed by iV'r ei 
ample, as it is governed by your authority, to this there f(v<> 
Tfet was an argument, however conformable to luw and re 
^on, in which a cunning, quihbling attorney might not disC' 
A/er a flaw. But, taking the whole of it together, I affirrj 
that it constitutes a mass of demonstration, than which n^j 
thing more complete or s'atisfactory can be offered to tl' 
human mind. How an evasive, indirect reply willl star) 
■with your reputation, or how far it w ill answer in point ■ 
4Jefence, at the bar of the House of Lords, is -worth yoi| 
consideration. If, after all that has been said, it shouj 
still be maintained, that the Court of King's Bench, inba'j 
io^ felons, are exempted from all legal rules whatsoeve' 
and that the judge haS no direction to pursue, but his pr; 
^ate affections, or more unquestionable will and pleasurl; 
jt will follow plainly, that the distinction between bailah" 
and not baibiWe. iinirormly expressed by the legislatur 
current through all our law books, and admitted by ail o( 
great lawyers, without exception, is, in one sense, a nug 
torv, in another, a nernicinus distinction. It is nugator 
as it supposes a ditTerence in the bailable quality of oife; 
ce?, whei> ia effect, the distinction refers only to tbe rW 



3Vm\S%. 215 

ftf the magistrate. It is pernicious, ai^it implies a rule of 
law, which yet the judge h not bound to pay the least re- 
gard to; and impresses an idea upon the miflds of the peo- 
ple, that the judge is wiser and greater than the law. 

It remains only to apply the law, thus stated, to the fact 
in question. By an authentic copy of the mittimus, it ap- 
pears that John Eyre was committed for felony, plainly and 
specially expressed in the warrant of commitmeht. He 
was charged before Alderman Halifax, by the oath of Thp- 
Efiaa Fielding, WiHiam Holder, William Payne, and William 
■Nash, ioTfdmiiousfy stealing eleven quires of writing paper, 
value six shillings, the properly of Thomas Beach, kc. By 
the examination upon oath of the four persons mentioned 
In the mittimus, it was proved that large quantities of paper 
bad been missed; and that eleven quires (previously mark- 
ed, from a suspicion that Eyre was the thief) were found 
upon him. Many other quires of paper, marked in the 
same manner, were found at his lodgings ; and after hie had 
been some time in Wood-street Compter, a key was found 
in his room there, which appeared to be a key to the clo- 
Iset at Guildhall, from whence the paper -Was stolen. When 
sasked what he had to say in his defence, his only answer 
was, I hopeyouwill bail me. Mr. Holder, the clerk, replied. 
That is impossible. There never was an instance of it, when 
the stolen goods nere found upon the thief. The Lord Mayor 
was then applied to, and refused to bail him. Of all these 
■circumstances it was your duty to have informed yourself 
minutely. The fact was remarkable; and the Chief Ma- 
gistrate of the City of London was knoiVn to have refused 
ito bail the offender. To justify your compliance with the 
tolicifations of your three countrvmen, it should be proved 
ithat such allegations were offered to you in behalf of their 
.issociate, as honestly and bona. fide reduced it to a matter 
i>f doubt and mdiiference whether the prisoner was inno- 
cent or guilty. Was any thing otfered by the Scotch tri- 
limvirate that tended to invaliilate the positive charge 
.nade against him by our four credible witnesses upon oath ? 
iiWas it even insinuated to you, either by himself or his bail 
,hat no felony was committed; or, that he was not the fe- 
on; that the stolen goods were not found upon him; or, 
I hat he was only the receiver, not knowing them to be sto- 
len? Or, in short, did they attempt to produce any evi- 
jlence of his insanity. To all these questions, I answer 
for you, without the least fear of contradiction, positively, 
;1o. From t ;e moment he was arrested he never enter- 
.,amed any hope of acquittal; therefore, thought of nothing 
jlut obtaining bail, that be might have time to settle his af- 
fairs, convey his fortune into another country, and spend 
ihe remainder of his life in comfort and affluence abroad 
)|B this prudential scheme of future happiness, the Lord 
jfbief Justice of Ecglami laost readily and heartily coa- 



m JUNIUS. 

fyrred. At sight of so much virtue in distress-, your »; 
ral benevolence took the alarm. Such a man as Mr. Ej 
struggling with adversity, must alT\ays be an interes . 
scene to Lord Mansfield. Or was it that liberal anxi^- 1 
by which your whole life has been distinguished, tfoenk.: 
the liberty of the subject ? My Lord, we did not want 
new instance of the liberality of your principles. We 
ready knew what kind of subject tbey were for whost 
berty you were anxious. At all events, the public 
much indebted to you for fixing a price, at which fel 
may be committed mith impunity. 

You bound a felon, notoriously worth 30,0001. in, the; ■ 
«f 3001. With your natural turn to equity, and knowini .. 
you are, in the doctrine of precedents, you undoubtt 
meant to settle the proportion between the fortune of 
felon and the fine by which he may compound for his f 
By. The ratio now upon record, and transmitted to poi 
rity under the auspices of Lord Man.sfield, is exactly 
to an hundred. My, Lord, without intending it, you b 
laid a cruel restraint upon the genius of your countryn 
In the warmest indulgence of their passions, they hav< 
«ye to the expense ! and if their other virtues fail us, 
bave a resource in their economy. 

By taking so trifling a security from John Eyre, you i: 
ted, and manifestly exhorted him to escape. Althou^i 
bailable cases it be usual to take four securities, you 
him in the custody of three Scotchmen, whom he m., : 
have easily satisfied for conniving at his retreat. That ; 
riidnot make use of the opportunity you industriously gn ; 
him, neither justifies your conduct, nor can it be any vv i 
accounted for, but by his excessive and monstrous avarjr* 
Any other man, but this bosom friend of three Scotchmcj. 
would gladly have sacrificed a few hundred pounds, raV' 
than submit to the infamy of pleading guilty in an o] 
court. It is possible, indeed, that he might have flatte 
himself, and not unreasonably,with the hopes of a pard 
That he would have been pardoned, seems more than p 
bable, if I had rot directed* the public attention to the le 
ing step you took in favour of him. In the present ger 
reign, we well know what use has been made of the len." 
of the court, and of the mercy of the crown. The JLi 
Chief Justice of England accepts of the hundredth pari 
the property of a felon, taken in the fact, as a recog 
usance for his appearance. Your brother S'tinjthe browbeat 
jury, and forces them to alter their verditt, by which tl 
had found a Scotch .sergeant guilty of mur-ler -, and thoi 
the Kennedies were convicted of a most deliberate a 
atrocious murder, they still had a claim totheioyal men 
They were saved by the chaatity of their conuectio.. 
They had a sister, yet it was not her beauty, i-utthepliao". 
of her virtue that recoaamended her to tlie King. 



JtJNItfS. 2»7 

le holy author of our religion was sepn in the company 
oners; but it ivas his gracious purpose to convert them 
their sins. Another man, who in the ceremonies of 
aith, might give lessons to tlie great enemy of it, upon 
■ent principles, keeps much the same company. He 
rtiscs for patients, collects all the diseases of the heart, 
;urns a royal palace into a hospitable for incurables. 
m of honour has no ticket of admission at Pt James'. 
^ receive him lil:e a virgiu at the Magdalenes— Go 
and do likemise. 

Y charge aaainst you ia now made good. I shall, how- 
be ready to aiiswer or to submit to fair ni-jectious. If, 
lever this matter shall be agitated, youiuiler the door* 
e House of Lords to be shut, I now protest, that I shall 
der you as Laving marie no reply. From that moment, 
e opinion of the world, you will stand seli-convicted. 
ther your reply be quibbling and evasive, or liberal 
u point, will be matter for the judgment of your peers ; 
r, when every possible idea of disrespect to that noble 
e (in whose honour and justice the nation implicitly 
'!es) is here most solemnly disclaimed, you should en- 
our to represent this charge as a contempt of their au- 
ty, and move their lordships to censure the publisher 
js paper, 1 then affirm, that you support injustice by 
uce, that you are guilty of a heinous aggravation of 
oifence, and that you coniribute your utmost influence 
omote on the part' of the highest court of judical ure, s 
■ive denial of justice to the natiou. JUNIUS. 



LETTER LXIX. 

To the Rigid Hon. Lord Caoidea. 

.ORD, 

UR^' with pleasure from that, barren waste in which n© 
ary plant takes root, no vcrduie quici^ens, to a charac- 
jrtile, as I willingly believe, in every great and good 
fication. I call upon you in the name of the Znglish 
n, to stand forth in defence of the laws of your countrv, 
o exert, in the cause of truth and justice, those great 
ies with which you were intrusted for the benent of 
ind. Toascevtain the facts set forth in the -preceding 
r it may be necessary to call the persons mentioned in 
mis to the bar of the House of ],ords. If a motion for 
purpose should be rejected, we shall know what to think 
•rd Mansheld's innocence. The leeal argument is sub- 
.r^'su to your Lordship's judgment. After the noble stand 
(>u made agaiast Lord ALansfield, upon the (luestiou of 1?- 



298 JUNIUS. 

bel, Tre did ex{iect that you would not hare suffered that 
matter to have remained undetermined. But it was said 
that Lord Chief Justice Wilmot had heen pnv nil ed upon to 
vouch for an opinion of the late Judge Yates, which was sup- 
posed to make against you; and we admit of the excus«. 
When such detestable arts are employed to prejudge a 
question of right, it might have been imprudent at that tinoe 
to have hrouelit it to a decision. In the present instance, 
you will iiavc no such opposition to contend with. If there 
be a judge or a lawyer, of any note in Westminster-hall, 
•who shall be daring enough to aflRrm that according to the 
true intendment of the laws of England, a felon, taken with 
tl'.e mnncr in flagrante delicto, is bailable, or that the discre- 
tion of an English judge is merely arbitrary, and not govern- 
ed by rules of law, I should be glad to be acquainted with 
him. Whoever he be I will take care that he shall not give 
you much trouble. Your Lordship's character assures me 
that 5^ou will assume that principal part, which belongs to 
you in supporting the laws of England against a wicked 
judge, who makes it the occupation of his life to misinter- 
pret and pervert them. If you decline this honourable of- 
fice, 1 fear it will be said, that, for some months past, you 
have kept too much company with the Duke of Grafton. 
When the contest turns upon the interpretation of the laws, 
you cannot, without a formal surrender of all your reputa- 
tion yield the post of hojiour even to Lord Chatham. Con- 
sidering the situation and abilities of Lord Mansfield I do 
not scruple to affirm, with the most solemn appeal to God 
for my sincerity, that, in my judgment, he is the very worst 
and most dr<ngerous man in the kingdom. Thus far I have 
done my dutv in endeavourng to bring him to punishment. 
But mine is an inferior ministerial office in the temple of 
iustice; I have bound the victim, and dragged him to the 
altar. JUNIUS. 



The Reverend Mr. John Home having, with his usual ve- 
racity, and honest industry, circulated a report that Ju- 
niu.s in a letter to the Supporters of t!io Bill of Rights, 
had warmly declared himself in favour of long parliaments 
an'! rotten borou;:hs, it is thought necessary to submit to 
the \<ublic the following extract from his letter to John 
Wilkes, ESq. dated the 7th of f^eptemher, 1771, and laid be- 
fore the Society on the 24th of the same month. 

'•With regard to the several articles, taken separately, 
I own I am concerned to see that the great condition which 
ou'-ht to be t!ie shie qua ncn of parliamentary quulitication, 
which ou"-ht to be the basis (as it assuredly will be the onlj' 
support) of every barrier raised in defence of the constir 
tutiou, (I meoii J dtdnr.tion upon oalh io shorten L'te (iurar 



JUNIUS. «» 

ittwrt of pArliamtnts) is reduced to the fourth rank in the es- 
titeem of the society ; and even in that place, far from bein? in- 
fjlslsted on with firmness and vehemence, seems to have 
ibeeu particularly slighted in the expression, You slialt en- 
deavour to restore annual parliaments. Are these the terms 
f which mf.n who are in earnest make use of, when the salus 
^reipuhlica is at stake 1 I expected otlier ianjuage from Mr. 
/Wilkes. Beside my objection in point of form, I disap- 
yprove hic;hly of the meaning of the fourth article as it 
stands. Whenever the question shall be seriously agitated. 
5 1 will endeavour (and if I live, will assuredly attempt it) 
fto convince the English nation by arguments, to my under- 
-standing unanswerable, that they oug,ht to insist upon a 

Jtriennial, and banish the idea of an annual parliairient. ;— 

cil am convinced, that if shortening the duration of parlia- 
s^ments (which, in effect, is keeping the representative un- 
sider tJie rod of the constituent) he not made the basis of our 
knew parliamentary jurisprudence, other checks or iraprove- 
Itiments signify nothing. On the contrary^ if this be made 
hthe foundation, other measures may come in aid, and, as 
•1 auxiliaries, be of considerable advantage. Lord Chatham'^ 
mproject, for instance, of increasing the number of knight's 

Bof h'hires, appears to be admirable. As to cutting away 

[?the rotten boroughs, I am as much ortended as any man at 
hseeing so many of them under ttie dirrxt influence of the 
I Crown, or at the disposal of priv;^e peisons Yet I own, 
iO 1 have both doubts and apprehensions in regard to the re- 
medy you propose. I shall be charged, perhaps, with au im- 
tisual want of political intrepidity, when I honestly conl'e.<*s 
to you, thai I am startled at the idea of so extensive an 
amputation. In the firstplace, I question the power, dejun, 
I'of the legislature to disfranchise a number of boroughs up- 
S-onthe general ground of improvlpg the constitution. There 
cannot be a doctrine more fatal to the liberty and property 
we are contending for, thun that which coBfounds the idea 
of a supreme and an arbitrary legislature. I need not point 
out to you the fatal purposes to which it has been, and may 
'be applied. If we are sincere in the political creed we 
'profess, there are many things which we ought to affirm, 
-cannot be done by King, Lord.^, and Commons. Among 
■ these I reckon the disfranchising of boroughs, with a gene- 
ifal view of improvement. I consic'er it as equivalent to 
robbing the parties concerned of their freehold, of their 
ibirthriicht. I say, that although this birthright may be for- 
feited, or the exercise of it suspended in particular cases. 
lit cannot be taken away by a general law, for any real or 
■pretended purpose of in^roving the constitution Supp;is- 
"ing the attempt made, I am persuaded you cannot mean 
Uhat either King, or Lords, should take an active part in it 
"i^A bill which only touches the representation of the people, 
'lOuet ordinate 3a tbe House of Comoio&s. lu the forma'- 



300 JUNIUS. 

tioQ and mode of passing it, the exclusive right of 
Commons must be asserted as scrupulously as in the cas 
a money bill. Now,Sir, I should be glad to know by i 
kind ol' reasoning it can he proved, that there is a pc 
vested in the representative to destroy his immediate . , 
stituent. From whence could he possibly derive it ^ . l 
courtier, 1 know, wi]] be ready to maintain the afTirroal »•< | 
The doctrine suits him exactly, because it gives an i 
ujited operation to the influence of the Crown. But 
Mr. Vv'ilkes, ought to hold a different language. It is 
answer to me, to say, that the bill, when it passes the H( 
of Commons, is the act of the majority, and not the re 
sentalives of the particular boroughs concerned. If 
majority can disfranchise ten boroughs, whV not twci 
why not the whole kingdom? Why should not they n 
their own seats in parliament for life ! When the septe 
al act passed, the legislature did what, apparently and 
pahly, they had no power to do; but they did more 
people in general were aware of ; they, in elfect, disf 
chised the whole kingdom for four years. 

" For argutfient's sake, I will now suppose that the a 
(liency of the measure, and the power of parliament, 
unquestionable. Still yon will find an insurmountable c 
cu!ty in the execution. When all your instruments of 
putation are prepared, when the unhappy patient lies l.c 
at your feet, wiitiout the possibility of resistence, 
vihni infallible rule will you direct the operation ? V.' 
you propose to cut av.'ay the rotten parts, can you tel 
■what parts are perfectly sound '/ Are there any'certaii 
miU in fact or theory, to inform you at what point 
m\ii\ stop, at what point the mortification ends ? Toai 
so capable of observation and reflection as j'ou are, it is 
neces-ary to say all that might be said upon' the subji 
Beside that I highly approve of Lord Chatham's idea ol 
Junng a ccriaiti portion of naw health into the conntiiution 
enable it te bear Us infirmities (a brilliant expression, ; 
full of intrinsic wisdom) other reasons concur in persu 
iag me to adopt it. I have no objection." &c. 

The man who fairly and completely answers this ar 
ment, shall have my thtnks and applause. My heart is 
ready with him- I am ready to be converted. I adm 
his morality, and would gladly subscribe to the article; 
his faith. Grateful as I am to the good Being whose boui 
has imparted to me this reasoning intellect, whatever it 
I hold myself proportionably indebted to him from whi 
enlightened understanding another ray of knowlei.'ge co 
municates to mine. But neither should I think the mi 
e:;a!ttd .acuities of the human mind a gift worthy of the 
vinity, nor any a; sistance in the improvement of then 
sultject of gratitude to my fellow creature, if 1 were i 
satisf.ed, that, really, to iulovm the uaderstaiiding, covrei 
3U3d enlarges tte heart. JUK1U£ 



